A major announcement has been made today about the latest steps to improve broadband coverage in Gloucestershire.

Elmstone Hardwicke, Stoke Orchard, Deerhurst, Portway and Brookthorpe will benefit in Gloucestershire from the next phase of faster broadband rollout being delivered by Gigaclear through the Fastershire project.

Gigaclear specialises in connecting rural communities by installing its pure fibre network straight into the property which offers a future-proof solution and broadband speeds of up to 1000Mbps.

Cabinet member for economy, skills and growth at Gloucestershire County Council Cllr Lynden Stowe said: "Faster broadband is vital for our communities and businesses to thrive and grow.

"I'm delighted that the Fastershire project, in partnership with Gigaclear, will be taking faster broadband to even more homes and businesses in some of the most rural areas of the county where larger suppliers were not prepared to go without public investment."

Gigaclear has already enabled around 5,000 additional homes and business in the Cotswolds under a separate contract awarded to them last year by the Fastershire project, and once completed later this summer this will see ultrafast fibre broadband made available to over 6,500 premises deep in the Cotswolds.

Phase one of the project, delivered by BT, has already seen over 78,000 homes and businesses in the county able to access superfast broadband speeds of 30Mbps or more.

This next phase of rollout will see ultrafast broadband being installed in areas that did not benefit from phase one.

Business Development Director at Gigaclear Joe Frost said: "We are delighted to be providing a futureproof network to local people, which will improve the quality of their lives for work, entertainment, communications and play!

"Thousands of properties in the Cotswolds have already been connected to our ultrafast broadband service on time and in budget thanks to the Fastershire project.

"We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Gloucestershire County Council through Phase two and look forward to welcoming these new communities to our network.

"There is no doubt that this will continue to be socially and economically transformative for these rural areas."

Over 35,000 homes and businesses across the county are expected to benefit from this next phase which is due to start later in the summer.

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