Thame gets ultrafast broadband for 2021!

Residents in Thame have found themselves at the forefront of a digital revolution that will soon sweep across the whole region.

Oxfordshire County Council and Airband have today announced that Airband’s ultrafast fibre network in Oxfordshire is live in Thame.

Homes and businesses in Thame will be able to enjoy some of the fastest broadband speeds in the UK.

Councillor Ian Corkin, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Business, Partnerships and Digital Infrastructure, said:

“I’m delighted that Thame residents are now benefiting from Airband’s ultrafast fibre network. This is world class digital infrastructure coming to one of our vibrant market towns, providing residents and businesses alike with access to ultrafast broadband.

“We’ve already seen the importance of superfast connectivity in our response to COVID-19 and this next generation of technology will build on that, revolutionising how we live, work and play, as well as helping us meet our sustainability goals. I’m very much looking forward to many similar announcements in the future. Part of our connectivity commitment to Oxfordshire’s residents.”

Most homes and businesses in Thame have a connection speed of less than 50Mbps, so not quite a digital ‘not spot’, but far lower than would be taken for granted in towns and cities elsewhere in the region.

The new fibre optic broadband network will mean that people in Thame can get connected to an internet service with download speeds up to five times faster than they currently have (250Mbps), which is enough bandwidth to stream ultra-HD on several devices simultaneously, or download a HD movie in minutes.

Philip Westerman, MD of Thame-based business ITP Group, is among the first customers to benefit from a new ultrafast Airband fibre broadband connection and is delighted with the transformation.

“Our location is in a lane, in a hamlet, and no fibre option was at all likely to be offered by the big national firms. We have survived on copper with the cabinet half a mile way, and the exchange 3 miles away – so 3 or 4 Mbps was the norm. I now have download and upload speeds of 130Mbps with Airband – this is a wonderful new norm!”

Airband is delivering ultrafast fibre broadband to 17 rural clusters over 450km across Oxfordshire, as part of the broadband for Businesses in Rural Oxfordshire (BiRO) project funded by Defra. It will ultimately enable over 12,000 premises to connect to ultrafast fibre broadband.

Andy Brain, project lead at Airband, said that he was delighted with how smoothly the process had gone.

“Bringing ultrafast to Thame represents everything that Airband is about – we are transforming connectivity for people and communities who deserve better. It’s so rewarding to be able to provide such a vast improvement in broadband speeds and the reaction and appreciation from communities here has been incredible.

“Deployment of the remaining clusters in this part of the contract with Oxfordshire County Council is progressing very well, thousands more rural homes and businesses in the region will very soon be able to access ultrafast broadband. And when we build our ultrafast networks, we use existing infrastructure wherever possible. For example, existing poles and underground ducts, which means we can set up an ultrafast fibre network very rapidly.

“Once we start building a network in an area, the process from ordering to installation should take just a few weeks,” he said.

Redmond Peel, founder and MD of Airband, added:

“Ultrafast fibre broadband is a game changer for rural areas and access to this future-proof technology will help so many rural businesses to prosper and grow. A lot of time, money and effort is going into the BiRO project because providing better connectivity for our rural areas is so important, and never more so than now, as being connected online has become increasingly important to all aspects of modern life as result of Covid-19.”

Airband’s fibre roll-out in Oxfordshire includes Uffington, Kingstone, Watlington and many more locations across the region. All areas are expected to be live this year.

To find out if you’re in Airband’s current or planned coverage area, please enter your postcode in the coverage checker.