£132 Million Broadband Project to Transform Cornish Economy

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are set to become one of the best connected locations in the world under an ambitious £132 million project announced on the 30th of September by BT and Cornwall Council and supported by European funding. The project will benefit tens of thousands of local businesses, create 4,000 new local jobs and protect a further 2,000.

The area will benefit from faster broadband thanks to the creation of a high speed network that will be open to all communications providers on a wholesale basis. The aim is to give between 80 and 90 per cent of local businesses and homes access to super-fast fibre broadband by 2014.  Fibre to the premise (FTTP) technology will feature heavily with the expectation being that half of local businesses and homes will have access to it. FTTP delivers the UK's fastest broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps. These are among the best speeds on offer anywhere in the world and will transform the competitiveness of local businesses.

BT said the £132 million project sets an example to other rural areas, showing what can be achieved through partnering and public funding. BT is providing £78.5 million and there will be ERDF Convergence investment of up to £53.5 million. This investment has the potential to transform the local economy by boosting local business productivity. It will also help to attract a more diverse range of high growth, high value companies to the area thanks to the world leading connectivity on offer.

For local businesses, the super-fast network will underpin the introduction of many new services and applications. Users will be able to run multiple bandwidth-hungry applications at the same time and send and receive large amounts of data much more quickly and efficiently. Computer processing and storage of files will also become more sophisticated and secure using 'cloud computing' technology. There will be faster back-up of computer systems and wider use of high quality videoconferencing within firms and between them and their customers.

Alec Robertson, Leader of Cornwall Council, said: "Building on the success of the actnow project, the introduction of next generation super-fast broadband has the potential to transform the local economy over the next twenty years and we're delighted to be working closely with BT, the South West RDA and the Convergence Programme in bringing this to Cornwall.

 "Local businesses will be given an all important head start through early access to world class communications and this will dramatically increase their competitiveness. The high speeds on offer will attract new business investment into Cornwall, creating thousands of new job opportunities."

Ian Livingston, chief executive of BT, said: "This is a very significant project that once again positions Cornwall as a broadband leader. It will make the county one of the best connected areas in the world and provide a major boost to its prosperity.

"This partnership shows what can be achieved when people work with BT. The 'final third' of the UK is undoubtedly challenging to reach with fibre but this project shows it is possible. Our door remains open to others who are keen to work with us to bring fibre broadband to their areas."

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