Rural Hampshire villages to get fibre broadband connections

Around 8,000 residences and businesses in rural parts of Hampshire that were not set to be covered by BT's nationwide superfast broadband rollout are to be connected to the service thanks to a local project.

Hampshire County Council and BT have joined forces to bring high-speed fibre broadband to the communities of Ashurst, Cadnam, Fawley, West Wellow, Romsey, Totton, Milford on Sea, Lymington, Lyndhurst, Gosport, Hythe and Lee-on-the-Solent over the next few months, the Southern Daily Echo reports.

Local County Council Leader Roy Perry told the publication: "This is bringing internet services to people in the county's rural communities who would otherwise be left with limited access or none at all."

It is hoped 95 per cent of rural Hampshire will have access to superfast fibre optic broadband by the end of 2017, meaning people will be able to benefit from faster data transfers, the ability to host frequent video calls and to process software through cloud computing systems.