Ilchester Set to Benefit From £58m Rural Broadband Boost
Published: 09 November 2023
Engineering work gets underway this month (November) to give more than 1,100 rural
homes and businesses in Ilchester access to full fibre broadband.
The work is being carried out by the UK’s largest rural alternative network provider
Gigaclear, part of a £58 million infrastructure boost in Somerset. The first homeowners are
expected to have access to ultrafast broadband speeds by spring 2024 with the build due for
completion by the autumn.
Senior Project Manager Glenn Ellis said: “We’re already taking our full fibre network to more
than 5,000 homes in Yeovil and next we’ll be heading north to Ilchester. We know there are
many great benefits to living in rural communities but having access to fast and reliable
broadband is not always something you’d expect. People living in towns and cities, on
average, enjoy much faster speeds than people in rural locations and Gigaclear is on a
mission to reduce this gap.
“Taking our full fibre network to residents in rural communities such as Ilchester will ensure
they’re able to work from home, stream online entertainment, scroll and gameplay just like
everyone else.”
During the engineering work, Gigaclear will be utilising existing Openreach ducts and poles
wherever possible in order to minimise disruption.