The rural south Shropshire (England) village of Ditton Priors, which is home to over 800 people, can now access a gigabit-capable broadband network after a combination of Project Gigabit vouchers, council support and work by ISP Kloud9 enabled the roll-out of a new full fibre (FTTP) network to take place.
Residents in the local community could previously only access Openreach’s ageing Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) network, often at speeds of greater than 24Mbps, but the new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network pushes that into the 1000Mbps territory.
According to Business Insider, Kloud9 only started work on the build in August 2023 and has now completed the roll-out for local homes and businesses. The provider also completed similarly small FTTP build projects in Cleehill and Cressage, and is said to be working on four more builds in the area.
Julie Bushell, Kloud9’s Community Engagement Manager, said:
“Gigabit broadband has become a necessity rather than a luxury. Rural villages like Ditton Priors are in real danger of being left in the broadband dark ages. It was a pleasure to work so closely with the community.”
Customers of the new service can expect to pay from £29.99 per month (plus a £20 one-off installation fee) for symmetric speeds of 100Mbps on a 12-month term, which rises to just £44.99 for their top 900Mbps tier.