Adderbury pub owner recommends superfast broadband upgrade

The Better Broadband for Oxfordshire (BBfO) partnership involving the county council, BT and others in a bid to improve online connections for the county.

Figures show more than half of those who could use fibre optic broadband are, with 73,000 households and businesses connected through the scheme.

Chris Shallis, who runs The Bell Inn was excited to get superfast broadband installed about 18 month ago.

“Nowadays everyone expects a certain speed from broadband, so all guests staying and dining here use it and appreciate having it available," he said.

"We live our lives online, I do everything for the business on the internet, payments, orders, on the ipad or other devices. it’s just crucial for my business.

"I am very glad that I can offer this service that our customers love and expect and also benefit from it so much.

"It’s a huge difference from normal broadband. I really notice it when I go into a pub or café that doesn’t have it, how slow it is.

"It’s pretty clear that to upgrade your broadband is a sensible business decision.

"It makes everything run smoother and it’s a massive improvement for us at the Bell Inn."

The latest communities to benefit from the BBfO roll-out include: Cookley Green, Pyrton, Balscote, Baulking and Waterperry.

The major milestones were confirmed by Oxfordshire County Council and BT Group, who spearhead the BBfO partnership.

It is part of the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme, which aims to make superfast broadband available to 95 per cent of the country by the end of the year.

Cabinet member for finance Cllr David Bartholomew said: “Reaching these important milestones in the run-up to Christmas and ahead of schedule is a terrific achievement and shows our commitment to make this important service available to as many parts of Oxfordshire as quickly as possible.

“We’re using a combination of technologies and co-funding solutions to ensure residents and businesses in even the smallest, most remote parts of our county have access to fast broadband.”

The upgrade work is being carried out by engineers from Openreach, the business responsible for Britain’s largest digital phone and broadband network.

Openreach’s managing director of next generation access Steve Haines said: “The broadband landscape across Oxfordshire has been transformed in recent years so that the great majority of households and businesses can now get superfast speeds.

"And we are most certainly not stopping there. We’re committed to going further with superfast and ultrafast broadband.

“Increasingly high-speed broadband is no longer a ‘nice to have’ – it is a ‘must have’.

"Reaching this important milestone at this busy time of the year is particularly good news for people wanting to use the internet more than usual for online shopping and ‘click and collect’ services.

"At home, it enables families to connect to several different devices at the same time, so children can play online games without affecting parents or grandparents while they watch catch-up television or contact friends and relatives abroad.

“This exciting technology also breaks down barriers to doing business in the digital world, around Oxfordshire and across the globe.

"It helps small businesses to find new markets, sell new products and communicate more easily and quickly with their customers, suppliers and employees.”

People can follow the progress of the roll-out and get more information about the council’s community co-funding scheme via the website: www.betterbroadbandoxfordshire.org.ukBecause the fibre broadband network is being installed by Openreach, households and businesses have a wide choice of fibre broadband providers.

But upgrades do not happen automatically. Anyone wanting to benefit needs to place an order with their chosen fibre broadband provider.