Rural areas in Cornwall will get fast 'gigabit capable broadband' thanks to a multi-million pound investment. Thanks to the new broadband, households can download a high-definition movie within one minute.
Homes and businesses in rural Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will have access to gigabit-capable broadband following a third major investment in the county by the government through its £5 billion Project Gigabit programme. Local company Wildanet has been awarded a £41 million contract to roll out new connections to more than 16,800 homes and businesses.
The locations are East Cornwall, West Cornwall and the Isle of St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly. It follows a £36 million investment by the government in 2023, with Wildanet awarded two contracts to connect up to 19,250 homes and businesses in South West and Mid Cornwall.
Read more: Evacuated aviation museum replaced by dormant company Read next: RAF training plane towed over small historic bridge over the River TamarThe announcement, made today (Wednesday), joins the areas already being delivered by Wildanet and brings the total Project Gigabit investment in Cornwall to £74 million - targeting more than 37,000 buildings. Towns and villages that could benefit from the latest funding stretch from Bude to Looe in the east of the county, and from Portreath to the Helford River in the west.
Initial network planning and survey work will commence shortly and installation work is expected to start in autumn 2024. Gigabit-capable broadband can deliver speeds of up to 1,000 megabits (or one gigabit) per second - up to 30 times faster than high-speed connections that rely on traditional copper cables.
Gigabit speeds mean households can download a high-definition movie, stream and download entertainment and shop online on several devices at the same time in less than one minute. Project Gigabit is the UK government's flagship program to give hard-to-reach communities access to high-speed gigabit broadband.
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It targets homes and businesses that are not included in broadband providers' commercial plans. The aim is to reach parts of Britain that might otherwise lack digital connectivity, supporting small and medium-sized businesses.
Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez said: "Government-backed gigabit broadband for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly promises lightning-fast connectivity for remote communities, making tasks such as file uploading and content streaming faster and more reliable, while also offering local companies are stimulated and new initiatives are stimulated. employment opportunities. This is the third multi-million investment we have awarded to Wildanet to deliver better broadband for the region, demonstrating our commitment to giving rural communities the digital infrastructure they need to thrive in today's digital world."
Helen Wylde-Archibald, Chief Executive Officer of Wildanet, said: "The latest investment through Project Gigabit and the award of this contract are excellent news for Cornwall and its many remote and hard-to-reach communities. It will help bridge the digital divide, redress the historic imbalance in rural broadband provision, while advancing the government's ambition to grow the economy by rolling out first-class digital infrastructure.
"People living and working in Cornwall will also benefit from all the social and financial benefits that digital inclusion brings, such as digital healthcare, the Internet of Things, distance learning and further job creation through remote working. Wildanet is incredibly proud to play a central role in such an important initiative and we are committed to delivering the best possible outcome for the people of Cornwall and South West England and repaying the confidence the Government has placed in us has stated."
Cornwall Council's economics portfolio holder, Cllr Louis Gardner, said: "This is great news for Cornwall. Thousands of properties nationwide will benefit from better and faster internet speeds. Our residents can benefit from greater connectivity which will in turn open up a wider range of education and employment opportunities. This new digital infrastructure will help communities connect and thrive."
Following the initial £36 million Project Gigabit investment in Cornwall announced last year, Wildanet is already well underway connecting hard-to-reach rural communities in South West and Mid Cornwall. Households in Mullion (south-west Cornwall) and Lanivet (middle Cornwall) were among the first 1,000 homes to see the new service go live, instantly transforming their internet connectivity after years of putting up with slow speeds.
Ellen Morris, who lives with her partner Michael and their two-and-a-half-year-old son in the village of Lanivet, Mid Cornwall, said the new broadband service had brought a huge change for the family: "We used to get a service of 30 up to 40 Mbps via copper wires, but with fiber optic we now achieve speeds of approximately 200 Mbps. Better still, the new service is more reliable and also provides full coverage within our home, where previously we were pretty much limited to the front room for good internet.
"It means that we can use laptops, smart TV and streaming services everywhere in the house; we also don't have to worry about how many devices are connected, it handles it all brilliantly. And we look forward to being able to get cover in the garden in the summer.
"My partner is self-employed and has to submit regular returns to HMRC, including uploading documents and receipts to the HMRC website. Uploads could take up to 15 minutes with our old service, but are now completed in seconds and the stability of the service makes filling out online forms and submitting this information much easier.
"It has made a huge difference for us. My father and uncle live in the same village and have also signed up for the service and some of our friends and neighbors are also making the switch."
For more information about this project, please visit www.wildanet.com/projectgigabit.
