SWINDON Borough Council has said it will push forward with a multi-million pound broadband scheme despite private providers offering a similar service.

Earlier this year, it was announced that almost £2 million was being spent making almost all the borough has access to superfast broadband, with half the cash coming from council funds and half from the Government.

The deal is with UKB Networks who will extend its 4G LTE network across the borough meaning places such as North Swindon and the outlying villages will be able to receive the service.

However, Virgin Media has announced a major £3 billion programme to rollout fibre optic broadband across the country.

While it has not named Swindon as part of its programme, North Swindon could qualify in the Virgin Media's definition of a 'densely populated area with a high demand', after a recent petition calling for broadband in the area received more than 600 signatures.

BT has also said many parts of North Swindon and villages like South Marston already have access to its 4G LTE service.

But council chiefs have said they will continue with joint programme because this will ensure almost all properties in Swindon will be covered.

Councillor Mary Martin (Con, Shaw), the cabinet member for digital services, said: “I spoke with BT earlier this year and they told me there were no plans to expand in already established areas, just new build areas.

“I think the publicly-funded programme may have added a sense of urgency to the private firms to expand their project.

“But the wire laying programme is something which take a long time. If we just stopped now this would cause lengthy delays to rural residents who are looking forward to getting high-speed broadband.

“Most people would probably say increased competition is a good thing which will help shape a rapidly changing market.”

She also argued the deal was signed up to ensure everyone had at least some coverage.

“The original government plan was to fill in all the white space, which did not already have superfast broadband and included parts of North Swindon and some of the villages,” said Coun Martin.

“The project we decided to move forward with beat the government’s target of 95 per cent coverage and means only a handful of properties in rural areas will not be covered.

Although there have been questions raised in North Swindon about the project, many elsewhere who have tried the scheme, such as in Chiseldon, have spoken favourably of it.

Coun Martin said: “The response we have had from people in the rural villages who have tried the project has been very good.

“We have identified where most of the masts will be held and then there will be the big push to get people to sign-up around February next year.”