At least 57,000 premises on the Isle of Wight are now able to make the most of full fibre internet after massive upgrades by WightFibre.
Cables have already been laid to a further 10,000 homes with service to those homes scheduled to become available in the next eight months.
The firm's Gigabit Island Project has seen more than 560km of trenches dug to date with another 40km still to go.
To date, the UK government has allocated £10 million in funding as part of the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme for the Isle of Wight to extend coverage to 24,000 eligible premises in hard-to-reach places.
Building Digital UK (BDUK) is the UK government Executive Agency responsible for the roll out of gigabit-capable broadband in hard-to-reach areas of the UK.
BDUK Chair Simon Blagden and Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely visited WightFibre in Totland Bay and Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight to see some of the areas that have benefitted from voucher funding.
John Irvine, CEO of WightFibre, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Simon Blagden to the Island to show off our great progress to date.
"Our new full-fibre, future-proof network is second to none on the planet and this, coupled with our very high levels of customer care, is giving customers what they want – fast reliable broadband that just works.”
Locations including Totland Bay, Havenstreet, Bembridge and St Helens are all designated as 'harder to reach'. Others include Mottistone, Chale and Wroxall - all of which have voucher eligible premises.
Isle of Wight MP, Bob Seely, said:
“This major achievement will be important for the Island for years to come. It will be invaluable especially for education, jobs and investment.
“As part of delivering this programme - and getting a better deal for the Island - we persuaded the Conservative Government to invest up to an additional £9 million pounds to support the fibre-to-premises plans from WightFibre. That has ensured that a much larger part of the Island can be covered than would be commercially viable.
“When we’re finished, much of the Island will have some of the best connectivity and fastest broadband speeds anywhere in the world. Most rural parts of the UK won’t have the fibre-to-premises as we do on the Island for many years.
“I’m delighted that Simon Blagden from the Department Science, Innovation and Technology’s Building Digital UK group was here to see what that investment is delivering.
"Thank you to all the staff at WightFibre for their great work making this project happen.
“The Isle of Wight is set to be the Singapore in the Solent. Great for homes, great for business and great for learning.”
The UK government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) can help people in hard-to-reach communities upgrade their broadband connections. Eligible homes and businesses can apply for up to £4,500 to cover the costs of a gigabit-capable connection.
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