21 villages in Cambridgeshire added to full-fibre network

Thousands more rural homes and businesses in Cambridgeshire have been earmarked for ultrafast full-fibre broadband to be built in their communities. The villages are located within the St Neots and Huntingdon areas.

The new full-fibre infrastructure will provide access to ultrafast speeds and superior network reliability. It’s replacing existing part-copper networks around the UK, which have been declared unfit for purpose by the government. The old Victorian infrastructure is unable to keep pace with modern data demands.

James Salmon, Director of Sales and New Territories, said: “We are excited to announce our rollout plans to future-proof another 21 villages in Cambridgeshire with world-class full-fibre broadband infrastructure that will provide ultrafast speeds and bullet-proof reliability.

As a local company, we are committed to helping Cambridgeshire become a flagbearer for future-ready digital connectivity. Crucially, we have secured millions of pounds of private funding to spearhead our ambitions, meaning we can start planning today to meet our growing future needs.

Demand for home and business internet connectivity has reached a record high. More and more data-hungry devices require ever faster, more reliable broadband. Combined with our new online modern lifestyles, the reality is that our current part-fibre, part-copper networks simply cannot cope any longer or provide the service we all expect and require.

Our new full-fibre infrastructure will allow residents and businesses to continue remote working, stream simultaneous 4k films, documentaries and live sport, or just simply enjoy online banking, shopping and other online services without any network disruption or frustration.

It is also important to emphasise that building full-fibre infrastructure in rural locations at this scale is a complex task. Each project requires significant planning, resources and time. It involves the coordination of highways, landowners, civils works and advanced fibre optic engineering. That’s why the sooner we start, the sooner our future-ready full-fibre service will become available.”

The 21 villages earmarked in this latest rollout in Cambridgeshire are: Boxworth, Buckden, Diddington, Elsworth, Eltisley, Grafham, Graveley, Great Paxton, Great Staughton, Hail Weston, Hilton, Knapwell, Lolworth, Midloe, Offord Cluny, Offord D’Arcy, Papworth St Agnes, Perry, Southoe, Toseland, and Yelling. The total number of premises is just over 6,000.

Over the coming weeks, our community teams will be meeting with residents and businesses in each village to explain the rollout plans in more detail and help secure local support.

Councillor Peter Balicki, Chairman of Hilton Parish Council, said: “We welcome this fantastic news that Hilton has been earmarked to receive future-ready full-fibre broadband infrastructure and benefit from the UK’s fastest gigabit speeds and far superior network reliability. Our current fibre to the cabinet infrastructure, which is part-fibre and part-copper, limits our broadband speeds, whilst devices are becoming more data-hungry. Many processes now rely on faster broadband speeds, which render our current infrastructure unsustainable.”

Councillor Paul Goodyer, Vice-Chairman of Great Paxton Parish Council, said: “This is fantastic news that our village has been earmarked to get UK-leading full-fibre broadband infrastructure built, so that we can join the Premier League of broadband villages. Our residents and businesses need faster speeds and better network reliability today, let alone in the future, to support the new work-from-home culture, provide unlimited streaming entertainment, and support local business innovation.”

If you’re interested in switching to truly better broadband, you can view our broadband packages.