MILLIONS of pounds worth of public money has been spent on providing superfast broadband in west Dorset.

Despite the investment Bridport has the lowest take up in the county with only 22 per cent taking advantage. In Beaminster the figure is even lower at 18 per cent .

Now there’s a campaign to try and persuade more people to sign up - which will help fund the harder-to-reach areas.

Most premises in Bridport can now get superfast broadband following a programme of public investment through the Superfast Dorset project.

The project, funded by the Government, Dorset’s councils and BT, has seen new fibre optic cabling and green roadside boxes installed in areas like Bridport and Beaminster not covered by the commercial roll-out. Dorset County Council spokesman Colin Wood said there were benefits for both businesses and individuals.

Mr Wood added: “However, your internet speed won’t improve automatically. You have to take a fibre service to enjoy the higher speeds. Fibre has traditionally been more expensive, but can now cost the same as standard broadband.”, particularly for those taking TV, phone calls and broadband from the same provider.

“In Dorset, around 25 per cent of those who could switch to a fibre broadband service have now done so, but some areas have take-up rates of more than 50 per cent. In Beaminster the figure is 18 per cent and in Bridport it’s 22 per cent.”

He said one reason may be that not all internet providers are currently offering fibre services in Bridport and Beaminster, but a number are, including BT, Sky and Plusnet. A full list of internet suppliers can be found on the internet.

He said: “If your provider isn’t offering fibre or is looking to charge more, the advice is to shop around.”

County Councillor Ros Kayes said: “Our aim is to maximise take-up of fibre broadband, as this means the project gets funding back that can be used to reach those not covered by the early roll-out.

“It really doesn’t cost much to upgrade and I’d urge people to do so because with one of the lowest uptakes in the county we’re really missing out here in Bridport. I’m staggered to have discovered recently that some companies like Talk Talk and are apparently telling their local customers that broadband is not available here simply because they have decided it’s too costly to develop their own links to the system.”I suppose it’s because they want to keep their customers but it’s not honest. In fact if residents look online they will find three broadband providers are available here with speeds of up to 72 MB. You don’t necessarily have to change your phone package provider to get broadband from another.

We’ve got it in Bridport -let’s use it.

“And there’s a social component to it as well. For every percentage rise in take-up, there is a pay out from government to the subsidising body (DCC) which they must then use to provide superfast broadband for hard to reach areas.”

So if you live in one of the villages, please encourage your Bridport-based friends and family to upgrade - it makes it far more likely you’ll get a piece of the cake as well.”

A TalkTalk spokesperson said it had no plans to offer fibre broadband to its customers in the area. but did offer : “TalkTalk currently offers voice and unlimited broadband services for customers in Bridport, Lyme Regis, Beaminster, Broadwindsor and Axminster. At the moment there are no current plans to offer Fibre Broadband.”