Superfast Cornwall, the pioneering initiative rolling out super-fast broadband across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, was last night announced as a major winner at the World Communication Awards.
A panel of judges, which included some of the world’s leading IT experts, named the £132 million private and public sector partnership as Project of the Year.
The judges said Superfast Cornwall was “a good example of a private company partnering with the public sector” to create “Europe’s most ambitious rural deployment of super-fast broadband.”
Superfast Cornwall – a partnership launched last year between BT, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Convergence, Cornwall Council and Cornwall Development Company – aims to make Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly one of the best connected rural areas in the world and a test bed for the future development of this high-speed technology.
Super-fast broadband is due to be available to 90,000 Cornish homes and businesses within five months.
And by the end of 2014 at least 80 per cent of premises in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are expected to have access to fibre optic broadband with alternative technologies, such as wireless and satellite, being used to boost speeds where super-fast broadband is not currently viable.
Nigel Ashcroft, Superfast Cornwall programme director for Cornwall Development Company, said: “It is wonderful that the achievements of this pioneering partnership are being recognised on a world stage. Superfast Cornwall is a world-leading example of expertise, cooperation and innovative investment. It will provide a major boost for the future prosperity and wellbeing of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. A huge amount of work has already been undertaken by the partners to make this exciting initiative the envy of the world.”
Ranulf Scarbrough, Superfast Cornwall programme director for BT, said: “Superfast Cornwall has captured the attention and imagination of the world. It demonstrates what can be achieved when the private and public sectors work together, sharing their resources and knowledge – and provides a blueprint for many other rural areas across the UK and elsewhere in the world.”
The World Communication Awards 2011 was held at the London Hilton in Park Lane. Further information about the awards is available at www.worldcommsawards.com
Further information available from Jason Mann of the BT Press Office on 01803 607562 or jason.h.mann@bt.com