Access to full fibre broadband has been rolled out to another 1,700 homes and businesses by internet service provider Airband as part of the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) programme.

The network of Gigabit capable full fibre broadband is now live in areas of Cotford St Luke, Staplegrove, and Monkton in Somerset, as well as parts of Bradninch, Tiverton, Calverleigh, Cruwys Morchard, Halberton, Nomansland, Withleigh, Powderham, Bishopsteignton, Luscombe and Tavistock in Devon.

Construction is currently ongoing to provide full fibre access to almost 600 premises in Stogumber and West Bagbourough in Somerset where build is expected to be completed this coming spring. Work is due to start shortly in Somerset to provide access to more than 1,020 premises in Taunton, more than 760 in Neroche, and over 1,070 in parts of Wellington and some of its surrounding communities such as Langford Budville and Holywell Lake. In the spring, work is scheduled to get underway in parts of Bridgwater, Huntspill, Ruishton, Stoke St Gregory, and Westonzoyland.

The full-fibre broadband industry is continuing to face national and international pressures affecting a number of areas of the sector including recruitment and retention, supply of materials and civil engineering capacity, according to Airband.

To cope with these issues and the additional challenges of building fibre broadband networks in rural areas, such as securing wayleave (land access) agreements, Airband has revised its build plans for its contracted areas covering Taunton, West Somerset, East Devon, Mid Devon, Exeter, Teignbridge and the South Hams. These plans have been agreed with CDS and BDUK (Building Digital UK).

Redmond Peel, Founder and Director of Airband, said: “We’re very pleased with the progress made on this project so far, and encouraged by the number of households and businesses that are already benefitting from it. Many more people have registered interest in the project, which bodes very well for the region as a whole in terms of increased access to the benefits of FTTP broadband.

"Compared with more urban settings, building, maintaining and upgrading rural broadband networks can present some unique challenges – for instance to date, across the whole project, we have applied for and obtained over 550 wayleaves. Working closely with CDS, we strive to meet these challenges head on and are looking forward to connecting many more communities in 2023 and beyond.”

Councillor Mike Rigby, CDS Board Member and Somerset County Council Lead Member for Transport and Digital, said: “It’s encouraging to see progress being made right across the board. I’m sure people that are in areas that can now order a service will take advantage of the gigabit capable full fibre broadband that’s available and more will gain access in the spring. I’m looking forward to seeing even more build getting underway over the coming months.”

Karl Tucker, Chair of the Heart of the South West LEP, said: “Rural connectivity is vital to improving productivity and prosperity across the Heart of the South West. It’s fantastic that thousands more homes and businesses will benefit from full fibre broadband, helping to keep communities connected, and ensure businesses don’t miss out on going digital.”

CDS has delivered superfast access to more homes and businesses than any other broadband programme in England, with over 315,000 premises receiving access to superfast broadband as a direct result of investment by CDS. Airband has delivered broadband access to more than 22,400 homes on behalf of CDS. Build dates can be found on Airband’s website.