BT (British Telecommunications plc) has announced that another 45,000 Devon homes and businesses will have access to faster broadband by the summer of this year.

Crediton, Cullompton, Tiverton, Colaton Raleigh, Axminster, Ottery St Mary, Seaton, Instow, Ivybridge and South Molton are among 43 South West communities included in the latest roll-out plans for BT's next generation broadband service delivered over copper lines.

The BT investment makes available broadband speeds of up to 20 megabits per second (Mbps) – more than double the maximum speeds previously available to the majority of UK homes and businesses.  

The technology is already available to nearly two thirds of homes in the South West (65 per cent) and is expected to have passed the three quarters mark (76 per cent) by this summer.

The new next generation broadband network is available on an open, wholesale basis to all companies providing broadband services.

This investment is in addition to the £2.5 billion BT roll-out of super-fast fibre-based broadband, which is expected to bring even faster speeds to two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2014.

Jon Reynolds, BT's South West regional director, said: "BT's roll-out of faster broadband across the South West is running at a very rapid pace.

"Earlier this month we announced plans to make super-fast fibre-based broadband available to more than a million homes and businesses in the region by the end of next year. Now we are able to confirm a further major investment in faster broadband speeds over copper lines.

"Nobody is doing more than BT to roll-out faster broadband across the South West. At a time of economic uncertainty these major improvements will provide a big boost for local businesses and offer many additional educational and entertainment opportunities for local households.

"And we want to go further. We want to work with the public sector to find ways of bringing faster broadband to areas, which are geographically and commercially more challenging."

Jeremy Filmer-Bennett, chief executive of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council, said: "We very much welcome this latest announcement from BT.

"Faster broadband is going to play a key role in the future success of the region. In an increasingly competitive and technological world it is vital that local businesses and households have access to high-speed sophisticated communications.

"Just like roads and railways, broadband is a vital part of the essential infrastructure of the South West."

Crediton Town Council and Mel Stride, MP for Central Devon, have been pushing for improved broadband services for Crediton.

Mel said this week: "I very much welcome BT's latest announcement.

"This is good news for Crediton where broadband speeds have been far less than satisfactory.

"We need however to ensure that our villages and hamlets are also properly served and this will continue to represent much of the focus of much of my effort."

alan-quick@crediton

couriernewspaper.co.uk