First Isle Of Wight BDUK Cabinet Goes Live

BT has activated the first Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK)-funded cabinet on the Isle of Wight, the final BDUK region to benefit from the government’s rural broadband initiative.

More than 240 residents and businesses will now be able to received fibre thanks to a new cabinet on Farriers Way in Shorewell, with properties in parts of Gurnard, Whippingham, Brighstone and Merstone set to be connected in phase one of the rollout.

It is expected that 20,000 premises will be covered by the project when it is completed in Autumn 2015, and when combined with BT’s commercial rollout, which has so far reached 49,000 homes and businesses in the island’s towns, more than 95 percent of the population will be able to receive superfast broadband.

Isle of Wight BDUK

“This is terrific news that the first cabinet has gone live,” says Isle of Wight councillor Shirley Smart. “We can now look forward to many residents and businesses in rural areas being connected up over the coming months. This will bring significant benefits to people in these areas and should over time assist with attracting inward investment and providing a real boost for business and tourism.”

BDUK has pledged £2.4 million towards the rollout of fibre in the island, a figure matched by Isle of Wight Council, while BT is supplying £2.7 million.

BT has won all of the government funding available under BDUK, however the initiative has been criticised by MPs who have called on the company and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to be more transparent about planned coverage and costs. It also claims the process has granted BT a virtual monopoly in rural broadband.

More than one million properties across the country have been connected as a direct result of BDUK, with the government declaring it is firmly on track to connect 95 percent of the UK population to superfast broadband services by 2017.

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