Isle of Wight fibre broadband rollout to be extended

BT and the Isle of Wight Council have announced they will be working together to deliver fibre optic broadband to an increased number of homes and businesses in rural parts of the island.

The network provider has brought the high-speed technology to 49,000 premises on the Isle of Wight so far, but primarily to those based in more built up areas.

Therefore, this new partnership will enable a further 20,000 homes and businesses in more rural communities to connect to the fast internet service.

Managing Director of Next Generation Access at BT Bill Murphy commented: "This is great news for the Isle of Wight. BT has committed £2.7 million to build and operate the network across the Isle of Wight for the lifetime of the contract."

The first rural locations to benefit from a connection to better broadband will be Merstone, Shorwell, Brighstone, Whippingham, Shalfleet and Gurnard, with BT set to begin work soon.

It is expected some of these communities will be able to access fibre broadband as early as the summer.