Winchelsea will getfaster broadband

Cllr Glazier spoke out after the county council was accused of going back on its promise to ensure communities have high speed internet connections.

Winchelsea has been cited as having one of the slowest broadband speeds in the country.

Cllr Glazier said: “Because the area is likely to be covered by private sector investment plans this means that it has to be excluded from our Superfast project. State Aid rules do not allow “double funding”

“I can assure residents that if BT do not progress this as a commercial project it will be delivered by East Sussex County Council.”

The Rye exchange is due for superfast upgrade during 2014. The County Council project is planned to start towards the end of this year but as yet no firm details of where it will start. It will happen over the next two years or so.

Cllr Glazier said: “Commercial rollouts are announced all the time so the picture is constantly changing.

“The County Council has asked everyone to register interest in super fast broadband because it really does help East Sussex as an area to prove demand exists, whichever way rollout happens.”

“Retail broadband services are very competitive; once the infrastructure is in place Internet service providers will compete to win business – but they will only compete if they can see that there is a market for their services. Registering demand is therefore very important.”

Contact the Broadband Team, [email protected] or see www.goesussex.co.uk for the latest news.