ONE of the country’s leading fibre optic providers is believed to have cooled its interest in moving large-scale into North Swindon in the immediate future, the Adver understands.

Advanced talks had taken place with Virgin about including the parts of North Swindon currently without access to superfast broadband in a multi-million pound national roll-out.

However, the company is reluctant to go into the same areas as the Swindon Borough Council backed wireless 4G LTE scheme and so is currently only looking at a small number of homes on Taw Hill.

A year ago, the council announced plans to work with UK Broadband on the 4G programme and have provided £1 million in subsidies, matched by the government.

While this move has been welcomed in the rural areas where it will be introduced early next year, residents in North Swindon have voiced their opposition, preferring a fibre optic solution.

Despite the protest, Councillor Mary Martin (Con, Shaw), the cabinet member responsible for the scheme, has said it remains the most viable town-wide option and will move forward with it.

Swindon North MP Justin Tomlinson has campaigned with residents and now believes the best option is to work with BT on providing an upgrade to its current network.

He said: “We have had productive talks with Virgin who have already started rolling out in some parts of the northern sector but at this stage they are unlikely to progress further as they are unhappy as the council wants to move forward with 4G.

“Residents collectively know this scheme is doomed to fail and therefore are disappointed that Virgin has hesitated.

“Our focus is now on working with BT to deliver the much needed upgrade to the Haydon Exchange.

“While Coun Mary Martin is out of step with local residents, thankfully Council Leader David Renard has shown a real commitment to help people in North Swindon access superfast fibre through this upgrade.”

On Thursday, a meeting of the Redhouse Residents Association was attended by dozens of people who all voiced support for a fibre solution.

But Coun Martin has said that with no commitment from other providers, 4G is the only way forward.

Coun Martin said: “Our rural communities and parts of north Swindon have been crying out for a decent broadband service for many years and this network will not only make a huge difference to households, it will provide a big boost to local businesses.”

“Myself, the leader of the council and Robert Buckland MP also recently met with Ed Vaizey, Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, to give him an update on the rollout of the 4G LTE superfast broadband network.

“Mr Vaizey was very impressed with the work being undertaken and the fact the project will deliver superfast broadband to 99.4 per cent of homes within the borough.

“Mr Vaizey also noted that the procurement process, overseen by BDUK, had been fair and open, and confirmed that his officials had provided firm assurance that the solution provided value for money and complied with the state aid rules. He also said he had been assured the technology solution for the project was also robust.”