BELSTONE is to receive superfast broadband as part of a £94 million programme bringing the service to rural areas.

Connecting Devon and Somerset has listed the next 25 communities to benefit from the programme and Belstone is one of the 18 communities in Devon listed.

High-speed fibre broadband will be available to villagers by the end of July.

The announcement follows the roll out of fibre broadband in Okehampton, Okehampton Hamlets, Sticklepath and South Tawton. North Tawton and Moretonhampstead will have live fibre broadband by the end of March.

Alongside the private sector's commercial roll-out, the Connecting Devon and Somerset programme aims to make superfast broadband speeds of 24Mbps and above available to around 90% of homes and businesses by the end of 2016.

It also plans to ensure a minimum of 2Mbps for all premises within the programme area.

Cllr Andrew Leadbetter, cabinet member for economy and growth for Devon County Council, said: 'With the recent weather highlighting the weaknesses in our critical infrastructure, superfast broadband has become even more essential to ensure that our businesses remain competitive and our economy continues to grow.

'Superfast broadband can dramatically alter how we work — opening up homeworking and other measures to improve efficiency and enable rural communities and businesses to continue to function in all but the most extreme circumstances.'

Laurent Boon, BT's programme manager for Connecting Devon and Somerset, said: 'The announcement today is another example of the programme's commitment to keeping communities fully informed of the roll-out as soon as the plans have been checked and confirmed.

'Despite the continuing bad weather, the Connecting Devon and Somerset programme continues to achieve great progress.'

Most of the programme will be Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology, where the fibre runs from the telephone exchange to a fibre optic street cabinet. It can deliver download speeds of up to 80Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps.

These are the top wholesale speeds available to all service providers, though speeds offered by service providers may vary.

According to regulator Ofcom, the average download speed in Devon is currently 11Mbps.

The new network is available on an open, wholesale basis to all broadband service providers.

Households and businesses wishing to place an order or find out more about fibre broadband should contact their service provider.