Glasgow to have superfast broadband by autumn

BT Openreach accelerates installation schedule to give 15,500 homes fibre broadband by the end of the year

BT Openreach is improving the UK's broadband network

BT has announced plans to accelerate its broadband rollout in Glasgow, which will see the city becoming one of the first in the UK to receive superfast broadband.

BT Openreach - which installs and maintains local access networks on behalf of all broadband providers – will aim to bring forward rollout by six months to autumn 2009.

“We couldn’t have made this a reality without the co-operation and commitment from Glasgow City Council who have supported us all along the road and totally grasped the importance and business potential this can deliver for the city,” said Bob Downes, Openreach director for Scotland.

More than 15,500 homes and businesses in the Hillington, Cardonald and Crookston areas of the city will eventually be able to take advantage of broadband speeds of up to 40Mbit/s.

Openreach is building 56 new street cabinets and installing around 30 miles of fibre stretching from the exchange to the boxes carrying the sophisticated electronics.

Councillor Steven Purcell, leader of Glasgow City Council, welcomed the news.

"With many businesses reliant on being able to send, receive and manage huge quantities of data and information on a daily basis a robust and modern communications infrastructure is an essential component to the city’s economic success and competitiveness," he said.

Work is also underway in areas of Edinburgh, Cardiff and North London as part of BT Openreach's goal to give 1.5 million UK homes access to fibre broadband by early summer 2010.

BT Openreach now says a million of those homes will be capable of receiving superfast broadband by March.

BT has a further goal to make fibre broadband available to 40 per cent of the UK – or some 10 million homes – by 2012, and will invest £1.5bn in the scheme.