More people able to access full fibre broadband

A growing number of people can access full fibre broadband in Norfolk - although coverage varies around the county, new figures show.

According to the regulator Ofcom, almost three quarters of people living in north Norwich can now get the fastest internet connections, up from 48.8% last year.

But in north Norfolk, less than 17% of people have access, and the figure for those in south Norfolk is 40.5%, a slight increase from 37.6% a year ago.

Just over 56% of residents in south Norwich have access to full fibre networks while in Great Yarmouth faster connectivity has almost doubled, from 23% coverage to just under 42%.

In 2023, the technology regulator Ofcom found that every district in the county was in the bottom half of its UK league table that looked at full fibre accessibility.

Jane James, Conservative county councillor responsible for innovation, said: "Over 97% of Norfolk has superfast broadband connection, which is great, until you realise superfast is only 24 MB per second."

She hopes the investment by BT Openreach to changing copper wires for full fibre will eventually lead to better speeds, less drop-outs or outages and more reliable connectivity.

Full fibre is when a fibre optic cable is used to provide broadband directly into homes and businesses.

Historically, copper phone line cables were used instead.

She said her team have been lobbying for the whole county to get better connectivity and was hoping to enlist the help of the new MPs representing Norfolk to lobby the new government for more support.

Ms James said her officers were also collecting data about mobile phone signals, using trackers on the county's bin lorries to collect information about 5G connections.

The county has seen some 3G capacity turned off to allow for 4G and 5G capacity.

Ms James said: "We need the evidence to make sure what they say they're providing they are actually providing."

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