TWO Gloucestershire villages have gone from being among the worst connected regions in the UK to having the fastest internet in the country overnight, overtaking the likes of central London and New York City in terms of bandwidth.

Homes in Framilode and Longney have been connected to an ultrafast broadband network this week.

Surrounded by the River Severn and a canal, the villages had previously been avoided by broadband providers as they are extremely difficult to reach.

The connection was made possible when engineers drilled under the River Severn to lay the fibre cable 13 metres under the ground, and five meters below the river itself.

Installed as part of Gloucestershire County Council’s 'Fastershire' project, the Gigaclear connection means residents have access to a full Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) internet service and speeds of up to 1Gbps.

This is much faster than cities like London and New York, where speeds average anywhere between 10Mbps and 18Mbps .1

Until now Longney and Framilode residents had suffered from poor broadband, with speeds as low as 1Mbps.

This made the simplest of tasks, such as checking emails or online shopping, nearly impossible.

Both villages are several miles from the nearest supermarket and have a limited local bus service.

With access to a much faster and reliable broadband, they can now take advantage of a whole new range of services online.

Councillor Patrick Molyneux, Cabinet Member for Economy, Education and Skills and responsible for Fastershire, said: “The availably of new ultrafast broadband will be welcome news for home and businesses and a wonderful boost for these communities.

“The scale of Severn crossing illustrates how difficult it is to reach rural areas. Fastershire’s investment in faster broadband means that more of the harder to reach parts of Gloucestershire will be able benefit from faster broadband and make the county a better place to live and work.”

Residents can check the Fastershire website to see if ultrafast broadband is available or planned at their address.

Visit www.fastershire.com and use the address checker.