Broadband increase 'good for society'

Banbury residents have welcomed BT's announcement that the area is to get super-fast broadband as part of its £2.5 billion countrywide fibre optic roll-out.

Chris Pack, chairman of Kidlington Village Centre Management Board, said all firms benefit from high-speed internet access and increasing connection speeds "can only be a good thing", Banbury Cake reports.

Wallingford councillor Nigel Hughes said greater bandwidth can boost rural communities economically.

The ability to work from home can give small towns a new lease of life, Mr Hughes added, as people can meet neighbours during the day rather than in the evening.

"That is good for society and good for the way people work, but it depends on good internet connections," he explained.

Kidlington and Wallingford are two of 41 villages named by BT expected to receive speeds of up to 40 Mbps by spring 2012.

Others include Oswestry in Shropshire and Stourport in Worcestershire.