Huntingdon chosen as pilot town for ultrafast ‘G.fast’ broadband

Huntingdon has been chosen as a pilot town for ultrafast broadband.

BT announced today it has selected Huntingdon as one of two towns for “G.fast” internet, which will deliver speeds of up to 500Mb per second, compared to normal broadband speeds of about 2Mbps, or superfast fibre optic of about 40Mbps

If successful, BT hopes to supply G.fast internet nationwide in 10 years from 2016/17.

“BT is a world leader when it comes to fibre innovation and we are excited about the next stage in our story,” BT CEO Gavin Patterson said today. “We believe G.fast is the key to unlocking ultrafast speeds and we are prepared to upgrade large parts of our network should the pilots prove successful. That upgrade will depend however on there continuing to be a stable regulatory environment that supports investment.

“The UK is ahead of its major European neighbours when it comes to broadband and we need to stay ahead as customer demands evolve. G.fast will allow us to do that by building on the investment we have made in fibre to date. It will transform the UK broadband landscape from superfast to ultrafast in the quickest possible timeframe.”

Huntingdon MP Jonathan Djanogly said: “This is great news for Huntingdon, to be chosen by BT, as one of only two test areas to receive the incredibly powerful 500 Mbps broadband.

“Fast broadband is a key component in improving business productivity, not least in rural locations. This means that we can compete with large cities, when it comes to considering business location – so good news for the local economy.

“I like to think that this reflects our long campaign for better broadband, Cambridgeshire being in the first rank of counties who achieved superfast broadband (currently being rolled out across the county) and the keenness shown locally for these products by local sign up campaigns in our local villages.”