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Broadband Checker
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availability and the best
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6th July 2005:
British Telecom
All
83 Leicestershire and Rutland BT exchanges now upgraded to
broadband
BT today announced that all of its 83 local telephone
exchanges serving more than 420,000 homes and businesses, in Leicestershire and
Rutland have been upgraded to broadband. The company completed its enablement
programme across both counties when broadband was switched on at Somerby
exchange today as part of its £1.5 billion national broadband investment
programme.
Mick McLoughlin, BT’s regional director for the East
Midlands, said: “We’ve reached a significant milestone in
Leicestershire and Rutland today and this is excellent news for the people
living and working here. The ongoing commitment and efforts of the Leicester
Shire Economic Partnership, Leicester Broadband for All Campaign and local
campaigners have been invaluable in the journey to achieve this broadband
enablement. Now, everyone needs to build on this success and focus on
encouraging even greater use of the technology to explore the wealth of new
business, leisure, entertainment and education opportunities offered by
broadband.
“Ensuring people living and working in the counties
make maximum use of broadband services is imperative to the growth of the local
economy and future success. “We remain committed to working with our
partners in Leicestershire and Rutland to look for more innovative ways of
demonstrating the benefits of information and communications technology and
broadband applications.”
Currently more than 75,000 households and
businesses are using BT broadband services in Leicestershire and Rutland. This
means that almost 18 per cent of the homes and businesses that have access to
broadband services across the two counties are using them. Kishor Tailor, Chief
Executive, Leicester Shire Economic Partnership (LSEP) said: “Since the
LSEP was established we've been determined to see all businesses have the same
access to broadband and therefore an equal chance of succeeding. This is a
significant milestone and I would like to thank all partners that have been
involved but it's not the end of the work in these rural communities. Broadband
might be available to businesses but some may require additional support to
make the most of this new service.
When BT unveiled its national
roll-out programme in April last year it promised to bring broadband to
virtually every home and business (99.6 per cent) in the county by summer 2005.
BT was selected as the preferred supplier by Leicester Shire Economic
Partnership’s Broadband Business Fund to fill in the remaining broadband
gaps in the county. As a result exchanges at Hungarton, Tilton and Tugby, which
were previously not included in BT’s national investment programme, were
upgraded for broadband on April 27.
[BT Broadband]
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