'Project Gigabit' set to bring major improvement in internet speeds for county residents
Some of the fastest internet speeds available will be coming to the county as part of a £5 billion expansion of gigabit broadband.
The Government has announced that Shropshire will be included in the areas to benefit from its multi-billion pound 'Project Gigabit' scheme.
Under the plans people included in the expansion would have access to internet connections up to ten times faster that the current superfast link up – which is available to around 94 per cent of the county's homes.
The measure would see hugely increased speeds for some of those already connected to superfast broadband – although would not tackle the issue with connecting around six per cent of the county's residents who cannot access the current super speedy connection.
Councillor Lee Chapman, Shropshire Council's portfolio holder for Organisational Transformation and Digital Infrastructure, said: "This is really good news for the county.
"We are very excited to be getting that push for gigabit from the government."
The government said that the scheme is designed to prioritise areas that currently have slow connections and would be left behind in broadband companies’ rollout plans.
Councillor Chapman said that the access to gigabit could be hugely beneficial for the county's economy, reducing some of the limitations on bandwidth faced by some firms.
However, he said that he also wanted to see a significant focus from the government on doing more to connect the remaining six per cent of homes in the county which cannot access superfast broadband.
The issues faced have been illustrated by huge quotations offered to some rural county residents for a quicker internet connection.
Last year Dave Driscoll, who lives near Clun, revealed how he had been quoted £157,000 for a superfast connection.
It came after another Shropshire resident, John Simister from Ellesmere, was quoted a price of up to £100,000 for an improved link at his home.
Councillor Chapman said: "While I welcome the funding we are also continuing to press hard for the government to work with Openreach and other providers to make sure everyone has access to a superfast connection.
"There are a number of families and businesses which still don't have the stable connection that a lot of us are accustomed to."
The government said it expects to announce the procurement for the Shropshire section of Project Gigabit in June.
It will be included along with Norfolk, Suffolk, Worcestershire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, with plans to connect a total of 640,000 properties.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "Project Gigabit is the rocket boost that we need to get lightning-fast broadband to all areas of the country. This broadband revolution will fire up people’s businesses and homes, and the vital public services that we all rely on, so we can continue to level up and build back better from this pandemic."
