Cheshire East Council has signed a £4.5 million deal with broadband provider Airband to gigabit capable, full fibre connectivity to homes and businesses within its boundaries.
It will also apply to neighbouring Cheshire West and Chester with the potential to expand to all of the area under the Connecting Cheshire programme, which also involves Halton and Warrington Borough Councils.
The deal involves the provision of full fibre connectivity direct to over 4,100 premises in rural and hard-to-reach areas, with the aim of enabling gigabit speeds. Installation will begin early this year and is expected to be completed by March 2023.
A spokesperson for Cheshire East said the network will be open access to it can be utilised by other operators.
The council said the need for improved connectivity has been highlighted by the big increase in home working under the pandemic lockdown.
It intends to provide more details of the coverage areas in the coming weeks and is exploring further possibilities for areas not covered by the deployment.
Key time
Councillor Nick Mannion, Cheshire East Council’s cabinet member for environment and regeneration, said: “The fibre-to-the-premises deal with Airband comes at a key time during the pandemic, to provide optimum connectivity to homeworkers and businesses across Cheshire East.
“The innovative methods to connect hard-to-reach and rural areas will certainly boost work productivity and streaming family entertainment services during national lockdown and beyond. Swifter internet services will help limit many of the frustrations people are facing now, juggling home and work life.
“It is crucial that everyone has sufficient internet at all hours to suit diverse working patterns and household needs.”
The spokesperson added: “We are happy that a new infrastructure provider is making this significant investment in infrastructure in our region, beyond address the pressing need of many homes and business it is hoped that, beyond the deployment, the network will continue to grow, providing additional coverage, choice and resilience for broadband providers and users alike.”
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