Cumbria hosts fibre optic broadband bash

Residents from a rural area of Cumbria are holding a celebration to mark the introduction of fibre optic broadband to their properties.

Today (October 2nd 2013) marks the activation of the first street-side cabinet to be part of the Connecting Cumbria project, which aims to increase coverage throughout the region. 

The first switch to be flicked will be in Yamwath, a rural village just outside Penrith, according to local news website In-Cumbria.

Pupils from local schools will be joined by business owners, councillors and representatives from service provider BT in a ceremony to hail the installation of next-generation broadband.

The emergence of the new superfast network has come as welcome news to many local businesses who have become frustrated with limited speeds.

It has been estimated by BT that 93 per cent of homes and businesses in Cumbria will have joined Yamwath in having superfast speeds of at least 24Mbps by the end of 2015.

The village will now be linked to the main broadband cabinet in Penrith via fibre optic cable, as opposed to the lower performance copper connection that was previously in place.