Large parts of the UK do not have access to superfast broadband from existing suppliers because it's not commercially viable for them to provide it. East Sussex is one of the areas that has very low broadband access.
Please take part in our consultation:
Background
The 2009 Digital Britain report says:
- everyone should have access to broadband at a basic speed of 2 mbps (megabits per second)
- superfast broadband, also known as next generation access (NGA) – at speeds of 24 mbps or over – should be made widely available.
However, about a third of the country will not be able to get superfast broadband from existing telecommunications companies because of the cost involved. This includes much of East Sussex, which has a large number of 'not-spots' (speed less than 0.5 mbps) and slow spots (speed less than 2 mbps).
As well as residents not getting access to the Internet, there are concerns that business growth and development in the county will be affected by lack of access to superfast broadband. We therefore need more investment in the right telecommunications infrastructure.
What the Government is doing
The Government is giving £10.6 million to the East Sussex and Brighton & Hove area, from the £530 million being distributed by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).
BDUK will give the funding to county councils and unitary authorities.
What we are doing
We have been working with our partners on a broadband plan which has now been approved by BDUK.
We will receive a grant of £10.6 million which will be added to our investment of £15 million, giving a total of almost £26 million to support the rollout of superfast broadband in the county.
We hope to provide superfast broadband, with speeds of 100mbps, to everyone in East Sussex by 2017.
We really need to show telecom providers just how much East Sussex needs this technology so we're asking as many people as possible to complete our survey, above.
Read our press releases to find out more:
What BT are doing
Our local plan targets areas which would not otherwise be commercially viable to be upgraded.
In some areas however exchanges are being upgraded as part of normal market development. Find out about scheduled exchange upgrades already in hand, and register your interest with BT to ask for your exchange to be upgraded:
Enquiries
Please contact us if you have any questions:
Economic Development Manager
Phone: 01273 482645
Email: broadband@eastsussex.gov.uk
East Sussex County Council