Villages across Wiltshire are to benefit from a £31.5m Openreach broadband investment.

Homes in Trowbridge, Newton Abbot, Box and Idmiston will be upgraded to a new 'full fibre' broadband network.

Openreach is the largest digital network provider in the UK, used by more than 660 service providers.

Engineers at the company have been working to make to make the technology available to as many people as possible in the country, and the company’s plans will help the Government achieve its target of delivering ‘gigabit capable’ broadband to 85 per cent of UK by 2025.

The company aims to reach 25 million premises by the end of December 2026, including more than six million in the hardest-to-serve parts of the country defined by industry regulator Ofcom.

Connie Dixon, Openreach’s Regional Director for the South West, said: “Good connectivity is vital – whether it’s to work from home, access education and care services, or for gaming and streaming entertainment – and that’s why we’re investing across the UK to upgrade our network to 25 million premises.

“Nobody’s building faster, further or to a higher standard than Openreach, and we’ve already reached six million homes and businesses with ultrafast full fibre technology, including around 540,000 in the South West.

"It’s proving popular as well, with nearly 30% of the population already choosing to start using it.

“Our engineers and build partners are reaching more communities every week and we’re not just building in cities and urban areas.

"Many rural and hard to reach communities are already benefitting and we plan to reach many more in the coming months and years.”

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