CCC to lobby BT on Barrow fibre broadband rollout

Cumbria County Council (CCC) is set to lobby BT to ensure that its fibre optic broadband rollout in the area covers as many properties as possible.

By spring 2013, the telecoms giant is planning to deploy the technology to more than 15,000 homes and businesses in Barrow, but fears exist that BT's commercial considerations could see some parts of the town miss out, reports the North West Evening Mail.

Zen Internet's broadband product manager Stuart Watson told PC Pro last year that as many as 60 per cent of street cabinets are excluded in BT's initial fibre optic broadband rollouts.

Jim Savege, operational director of organisational development at CCC, has now called for councillors to get behind the local authority in campaigning for widespread super-fast broadband coverage.

"We still don't know yet where those 15,400 premises are going to be, so in terms of your constituents ... that's unknown at this stage," he warned a local committee meeting.