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Tendring business chiefs hail BT fibre broadband rollout
More than 4,000 Tendring homes and businesses are set to receive fibre broadband access from BT.
As part of its project to deliver the technology to two-thirds of UK premises by 2015, the telecoms giant revealed it will upgrade 13 street cabinets in the Manningtree area over the coming weeks.
The move will bring faster connection speeds to more than 4,000 homes and businesses, reports the East Anglian Daily Times. Maximum download rates will initially rise to 40Mbps, before increasing further to 80Mbps next year.
BT aims to carry out more deployments in the near future and is planning to upgrade exchanges serving Clacton, Frinton and Wivenhoe by next Easter.
Keith Brown, development manager at the Essex Federation of Small Businesses, hailed the announcement and said reliable, affordable super-fast broadband access is "essential" for all employers in the 21st century.
He added the organisation is "pleased the work in the Manningtree area is progressing so rapidly so businesses can benefit from this investment programme".
Mr Brown's welcome for the news was echoed by Brian Farrington from the Essex Chambers of Commerce (ECC), who declared the development will be significant but long overdue.
Describing BT's improvements as "a good start", Mr Farrington said super-fast broadband has been "neglected" in Tendring and any steps to bring next-generation access to the district should be praised.
The next step in the process should be to upgrade broadband services in Brightlingsea and Harwich, he added, stating the ECC will lead the call for deployments to be made in these areas.
Leader of Tendring District Council Neil Stock revealed the local authority had been working closely with BT to facilitate the rollout by discussing matters such as pre-planning applications.
"Super-fast broadband for more than 4,000 homes is a good start and it will only be a matter of months before others quickly follow," he added.