Central Somerset communities could miss out on fibre broadband

A number of rural communities in central Somerset are at risk of missing out on a major countywide rollout of fibre optic broadband.

Exchanges in Charlton Adam and Somerton are currently listed by BT as being "under evaluation", which means they may be overlooked in future deployments, reports the Central Somerset Gazette.

Openreach, BT's local access network business, warns that in many areas it will not be able to upgrade every cabinet.

The company is aiming to bring super-fast broadband to two-thirds of homes and businesses across the UK before the end of spring 2014 under its £2.5 billion commercial rollout.

BT has also been chosen to partner with councils in Devon and Somerset to deliver faster broadband throughout the two counties.

Known as Connecting Devon and Somerset, the scheme has secured £94 million of investment and aims to ensure around 91 per cent of local properties are able to access fibre optic broadband by the end of 2016.