North East Hertfordshire MP Sir Oliver Heald took time out recently (November 25) to see the investment being made to bring ultrafast broadband to more than 2,800 homes and businesses in Buntingford.
The MP and Hertfordshire County Councillor Jeff Jones, who represents Buntingford, were invited by leading rural full fibre broadband provider Gigaclear to view its cabinet on Baldock Road. Whilst there, Senior Project Manager Vikki Ellis, Project Manager Carl Payne and Project Delivery Lead Ethan Street explained how Gigaclear are continually developing its build methods to make more use of existing infrastructure, in order to speed up its work and minimise disruption to residents.
They were also given an insight into the work St Albans’ sub-contractor Bethmar was doing to install the full fibre network. It is an area Bethmar know well as they have base just a short distance from the Baldock Road cabinet.
Sir Oliver said: “I was pleased to see the work that Gigaclear is doing to bring ultrafast broadband to even more of my constituents in Buntingford. I know how important it is that residents and businesses have access to good broadband and this investment is something I welcome. I enjoyed my visit as I saw at first-hand the work that is being done to install the network and I understand that connections will start to go live in the early part of 2023. My constituents should register their interest at https://gigaclear.com/ and they will be notified when the service in available.”
Across many of its build communities, Gigaclear offers a free connection to a Community Hub where local amenities, such as village halls, can enjoy free broadband.
Sir Oliver added: “I was interested to hear about the Community Hub scheme where Gigaclear offers a free connection to community venues like village halls, community centres or youth clubs. I support this initiative and am keen to see it utilised in Buntingford. To find out more about this, please visit https://gigaclear.com/community-hub where interested groups will be able to find out if they are eligible to apply.”
Vikki Ellis said: “It was great to have the opportunity to take Sir Oliver around our build and show him how we are going about bringing ultrafast broadband to this community. We are extremely grateful to residents for their patience and understanding as we bring gigabit-capable broadband to the town and the work is progressing well. I am looking forward to seeing Buntingford benefit from our service next year.”
Gigaclear has frozen its full-fibre broadband rates for 18 months, meaning both new and existing customers will not see a rise in prices until October 2023 at the earliest.
