Superfast Essex, the programme to improve broadband connectivity in the county, has launched a new and improved website to help communicate what is happening and promote the benefits of using faster broadband.
The £24.6m programme funded by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Essex County Council and BT and co-ordinated by Essex County Council, is working to improve broadband coverage in the county so that more than 87% of homes and businesses have access to fibre broadband by the end of 2016, enabling people to access faster connection speeds than those available on the copper network.
The new website is available at www.superfastessex.org and has been redesigned to make it more user-friendly, accessible and easier to navigate. The site offers a resource to Essex residents and businesses, where they can find all information on the broadband improvements in one place. This includes links to useful external sites.
One of the key features is the new Postcode Checker, where residents can now find out the most up-to-date programme status for their area simply by entering a postcode. Other features of the website include:
There is also a coverage map, events list and background information about the programme, as well as links to our Twitter feed and our Make the Connection Survey where visitors can sign up for updates.
Essex County Council Leader, Cllr David Finch, said: “We want to support businesses to work smarter and help our local economy to grow, and having a good broadband connection is important to enable this to happen.
“Superfast Essex is constantly evolving and we want to keep our residents and businesses as informed as possible throughout. We hope the new website will help us do this, particularly with the new easy-to-use Postcode Checker tool. It’s worth a visit!”