MORE than 115,000 extra Hampshire households and businesses are benefitting from faster internet following a £40m programme.

The 10-year programme to boost internet speeds and connectivity across Hampshire is concluding but the government has announced it will invest £118m more.

According to Hampshire County Council, more than a million metres of fibre optic cable are now in place and 1,200 new network points have been installed in 260 parishes. 

A new report found the project exceeded its target, improving speeds for almost 98 per cent of premises across the county that would have otherwise missed out on being upgraded by service providers without council funding.

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Cllr Rob Humby, Hampshire County Council leader, said: “Being able to connect digitally is vital for so many reasons in our day-to-day lives – for things like making health appointments, staying connected with friends and family, working from home, and managing finances or online banking.

“We are becoming an increasingly digital society, socially, domestically and commercially so it is really good to know that our £12.9 million investment, together with that from central government, the county’s borough and district councils and our commercial partner, Openreach, has been well spent.

“I’m ambitious for all of Hampshire to have equal access to higher broadband speeds, and there’s still work to be done to improve speeds for around 20,000 Hampshire properties (the remaining 2.2 per cent) who are still only accessing speeds below 24Mbps. This has to be a priority and I’m reassured that it looks set to be realised as part of government’s national Project Gigabit initiative.”

With Gigabit broadband, old copper wires will be replaced to provide faster connections. Up to 80 per cent of properties will be upgraded to gigabit speeds via commercial investment from telecoms companies.

Meanwhile, the government has committed £5bn to Project Gigabit to cover areas that are not commercially viable for an upgrade.

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The Hampshire Superfast Programme has worked with Project Gigabit to define the areas that need a subsidy for gigabit broadband.

As a result, the government will invest £118m to the county via Project Gigabit as follows:

  • £14m investment to bring gigabit broadband to 10,000 properties in New Forest, awarded to Wessex Internet
  • £104m investment to bring gigabit broadband to 75,000 properties across other parts of Hampshire, awarded to CityFibre

The remaining 2.2 per cent of properties not covered by the superfast programme are expected to be upgraded to full fibre during the next phase of government investment.

Building Digital UK (BDUK) has launched a voucher scheme worth £4,500 per property, for residents and businesses not covered by these contracts to collectively commission broadband providers to install gigabit broadband where it is urgently needed.

For more information go to gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/.

Residents in New Forest should register with Wessex Internet, while those in other parts of Hampshire should register with CityFibre to keep up to date about coverage plans.