Blueprint for county roll-out of broadband

Ambitious plans for a county roll out of broadband are outlined in a new strategy produced by Herefordshire Council.

The strategy sets out the importance of broadband to Herefordshire as well as its potential to support the economic competitiveness of local businesses and how technology can enhance local services.

The aim is to have 90 per cent of homes and business in the county linked up to fast broadband by 2015, and by 2020 50 per cent of premises having the opportunity to access broadband speeds of 100Mbps.

Cllr Roger Phillips, leader of Herefordshire Council, said: “Though we are focusing on making sure the network is in place, the most important thing is the impact superfast broadband can have on our businesses and communities.

"The potential is massive for the county and we want to make sure people and businesses make the most of the technologies that are going to be available".

The benefits, as outlined in the strategy, include allowing businesses to become more competitive with an increasing dependency on technology to do business and communicate in a global economy.

Other benefits include easier access to services for people, particularly those living in rural areas, and more widely, the use of technologies to improve services to everyone.

In addition there are environmental and cost benefits that broadband coverage in the county can bring.

The broadband pilot awarded to Herefordshire will focus on the south of the county but with the intention of a quick rollout to the rest of Herefordshire as the lessons from the pilot are identified.

As part of the pilot, Herefordshire Council will work closely with business and communities to ensure they make the best use of the technology that will be available.

The strategy is available at www.herefordshire.gov.uk/broadband Alternatively email economicinvestment@herefordshire.gov.uk or phone 01432 261758 to request a copy.