Latest figures show that improved broadband infrastructure has boosted the national turnover of local businesses by £9 billion. Within Penrith and The Border, 27 per cent of registered businesses work from home, and over 92 per cent have a workforce of ten or less. Broadband allows these SMEs to compete at a level that has simply not been possible up until now. Good broadband coverage can transform farms and businesses, improve conditions for the isolated and the elderly, and revolutionise healthcare and education.

To date we have had many high-profile successes, such as securing for Penrith and The Border some of the most innovative 4G mobile broadband and Open Femto pilots; supporting the very first community broadband project in the UK – Fell End – in receiving a Rural Community Broadband Grant from DEFRA; nominating the 2011 Digital Hero winner, Libby Bateman, for her work with the East Cumbria Community Broadband Forum; and, importantly, bringing the campaign to the forefront of Parliamentary debate.

The Connecting Cumbria project, which launched in 2013 as a partnership between Cumbria County Council and BT, is designed to bring bring superfast broadband coverage to 95% of homes and businesses in Cumbria by the end of 2018 and has enabled some 700 fibre structures so far. Coverage, at present, is at 93%, with 127,000 homes and businesses having already benefitted from the scheme. I would encourage anyone concerned about broadband in their community to get in touch at [email protected], or in writing, at the House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA, and I will endeavour to offer all the help I can.

Further information on the likely improvements to broadband individual homes and communities can expect from BT roll out in Cumbria, can be found at: www.connectingcumbria.org.uk