Fibrestream unveils Cumbria broadband plans

Fibre optic broadband provider Fibrestream has announced the creation of NextGenUs Cumbria (NGU), a non-profit enterprise that will aim to improve connectivity in the north-west county.

All the money made by the new venture, a subsidiary of the NGU Group, will be directly fed back to the community or invested in the company's fibre-to-the-home broadband network.

Guy Jarvis, the boss of Fibrestream, explained NGU Cumbria is currently engaged in building the infrastructure required to deliver super-fast broadband and other digital services to the county.

"Getting to this stage has unavoidably involved the ruffling of feathers," he commented. "The challenge and opportunity now is to move beyond personalities and egos and forwards in the wider community interest."

According to research from Ofcom, broadband provision in Cumbria is currently worse than in the Shetland Islands and other similarly rural parts of the country.

Penrith and the Border MP Rory Stewart said much of the county can only receive "unacceptably low" broadband speeds, reports the News & Star.