Isle of Wight to get 'ultrafast' broadband

More than 50,000 homes and firms on the Isle of Wight could have "ultrafast" broadband by 2022 following a £35m investment.

WightFibre plans to build the network using full-fibre network technology which it says will give speeds of one gigabit per second (gbps).

The operator said the money had come in part from the government Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund.

It said the plans would create a "Gigabit Island".

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The technology is known as full-fibre because it takes high-speed cables directly to properties.

Much of the existing fibre services in the UK connect the fast cables to roadside cabinets and then use older, slower copper for the final link to homes and businesses.

WightFibre has owned and operated its own telecommunications infrastructure on the island, independently of BT, since 2001.

The company's chief executive officer, John Irvine, said the new "ultrafast" network would handle the island's broadband demands for "decades to come".

The £1bn Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund was set up earlier this year.

Andrew Jones MP, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said it would give the island "first-class connectivity fit for the future".

The investment will safeguard 34 jobs and create around new 20 permanent jobs at WightFibre and 120 temporary jobs during the building of the new network.