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Cornwall to benefit from
Thursday 30th September 2010, by Daniel King
BT has joined forces with Cornwall Council for a European-funded £132 million project to upgrade broadband connections in the county and the Isles of Scilly.
Up to nine in ten local businesses and homes will have access to super-fast fibre broadband within four years, as part of BT's plan to cover two-thirds of the country by 2015.
The telecoms company will be providing around £78.5 million of the funding, while ERDF Convergence has invested £53.5 million.
Around half of homes and businesses will be able to use fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) connections by then.
This is faster than fibre-to-the-cabinet connections which connect exchanges to street telephone cabinets.
FTTP can reach 100Mbps speeds, according to the telecoms giant.
Commenting on the announcement, communications minister Ed Vaizey said: "[The project] shows how the public and private sectors can work together to deliver local solutions to local problems.
"This investment has the potential to transform the local economy by boosting local business productivity."
He added that it was also likely to diversify the economy, as more businesses would be willing to move to the area because of its new fast-speed connections.
Cornwall has worked to promote e-business in rural areas of England.
A regional broadband initiative, actnow, has been crucial in connecting local businesses by offering technical and business advice.
Earlier this week, an organisation in Dorset highlighted the necessity of tackling "the final third" ahead of BT's deadline date for upgrading the rest of UK.
BT has previously said that these regions will require significant public investment because of the expense of upgrading existing connections and installing new ones.
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