BT says Connecting Cumbria is world's largest fibre broadband rollout

BT has described its fibre optic broadband partnership with Cumbria County Council as the largest project of its kind in the world.

The £51 million Connecting Cumbria scheme aims to provide 93 per cent of local homes and businesses with access to speeds of at least 24Mbps by the end of 2015. 

BT's commercial rollout will see fibre optic coverage extended to 46 per cent of the region, while Connecting Cumbria will bring the technology to 47 per cent of local properties.

Further details of the programme were unveiled at a conference in Rheged last week, with BT Regions Managing Director Brendan Dick telling delegates about the scale of the project, reports In-Cumbria.

More than 2,300km of 'spine fibre' will be installed during the deployment, while a further 1,600km of 'distribution fibre' will bring super-fast connectivity within reach of rural communities.

Mr Dick revealed that BT had already employed almost 500 people across the county, but this new project has given the telecoms giant an opportunity to retrain at least a fifth of them.