Cheshire broadband roadshow event

Cheshire East Council and BT Openreach are holding a public briefing about the new superfast broadband services rolling out across the borough as they prepare to switch to fibre exchanges in Alderley Edge and Lower Peover.

The event will be held on Wednesday 22 January at Alderley Edge Festival Hall, Talbot Road, Alderley Edge, SK9 7HR, between 4pm and 8pm.

People can find out more about the arrival of fibre broadband and the benefits for business and residents from switching to high-speed broadband.

Experts from BT Openreach will be on hand to explain the technical and logistical challenges, plus there will be information and maps showing where and when the new services will be arriving. Information on the free superfast business support programme will also be available.

Cllr David Brown, deputy leader of Cheshire East Council, on behalf of the Connecting Cheshire Partnership, said: "I urge everyone to attend this event to learn more about the benefits of faster broadband, which will transform how we work, how we learn, how we communicate with friends or family and how we entertain ourselves. The digital age is with us – so let's exploit it."

The telephone exchanges covering Alderley Edge and Lower Peover will be among the first to benefit from upgrades to fibre from the end of March onwards. This will be followed by exchanges in Mobberley, Chelford, Prestbury, Poynton, Disley and Sutton later in the year.

For more information on Connecting Cheshire and proposed fibre coverage visit: www.connectingcheshire.org.uk

Superfast Britain is a Government investment of £1.08bn in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK, run by the Department of Culture, Media & Sport. The portfolio comprises three linked programmes: £780m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017; £150m to provide high speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities; £150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and data network services.

Connecting Cheshire was launched in April 2013, following the signing of the contract between four Cheshire councils (Cheshire East, Cheshire West & Chester, Halton and Warrington) and BT, which will see a total fibre broadband investment in the county of around £28.5m. The project is partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund.