RESIDENTS in Okehampton wishing to receive super-fast broadband during the first roll-out of the service have been asked to express their interest to BT.

BT announced last week that Okehampton is one of 24 South West communities that will receive high-speed fibre broadband next year. The news has been welcomed by business leaders in the region and town, who hope it will bring a boost to businesses, internet users and the local economy.

BT's local network business Openreach is making fibre broadband available to around two-thirds of UK homes and businesses on a commercial basis by the end of 2014, using a mixture of technologies.

Due to the complex nature of installing such a service, Openreach need to know the demand from each street cabinet or exchange online.

Town Cllr Kevin Ball, who is part of West Devon Borough and South Hams District Council's joint rural broadband working group, said: 'Super-fast broadband is due to be rolled out in Okehampton next year. To ensure that the service gets rolled out onto your street in the first phase, people need to express an interest.

'The more people living on a particular street or in a particular area of town that express an interest in the service, the faster they will roll it out to the people interested.

'I'd like to thank the hard work of the group to help Okehampton in securing super-fast broadband, particularly Cllr John Sheldon.'