Penrith becomes first Cumbrian town to gain fibre broadband access
A campaign to bring super-fast broadband to Cumbria has finally seen the fruit of its efforts, with the technology now available to some homes and businesses in Penrith.
The town has become the first place in the north-west county to gain access to the service after BT engineers began connecting local properties, reports the News & Star.
Over the coming weeks, around 7,800 premises are set to benefit from the work.
Rory Stewart, MP for Penrith and the Border and the driving force behind the broadband campaign, said the arrival of next-generation connectivity in the county will help to put Cumbria "at the cutting edge".
"Penrith is just the beginning," he added. "I am now pushing hard to ensure that the more remote parts of our county will also benefit from super-fast broadband in the near future."
BT is also planning to deploy fibre optic broadband to more than 65,000 properties in Barrow, Carlisle, Dalton, Kendal and Workington over the coming months.
The news comes in the same week that the telecoms giant revealed it has hit a major milestone in its national super-fast broadband rollout, with the service now available to ten million premises.
