Villages invest in superfast connectivity

Communities in three Lancashire villages have banded together to raise funding towards the installation of new superfast broadband in their area.

The residents of Storth, Silverdale and Yealand have raised in excess of £200,000 that is now being used to install fibre optic broadband, which once complete will offer impressive download rates of up to 1,000 Mbps, the Westmorland Gazette reports.

Getting the whole of the local community onboard with the plans was not always an easy sell though, as Committee Member for the Broadband for Yealand, Storth and Silverdale action group Chris Ward found out.

Indeed, he told the news provider: "The silver surfers say they don't need internet that fast, but if you want to speak to your grandchildren in Australia on Skype or access government services, you need it."

A demonstration day for the benefits of superfast broadband has been scheduled for 18th January and aims to get more people enthused about the advantages of superfast broadband in the area.