People in parts of Devon who are struggling with slow internet speeds can expect major improvements in the near future as councils get behind plans for high-speed broadband, writes local democracy reporter Philip Churm.

South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council have appointed a dedicated digital connectivity manager to support communities in desperate need of better broadband. 

The position has support from the Local Government Association. A recent national report by property management consultants Cluttons says the Government should fund similar roles in all councils.

Speeds in towns across both local authorities vary considerably. Median speeds in Totnes are under 17 Mbps compared to 62 Mbps in Ivybridge. 

Fair Internet Report, which analysis broadband across the UK, says internet speeds overall in Devon are 25 per cent worse than the national average of around 48 Mbps. 

The most common broadband provider in Devon is BT, with typical speeds ranging from 27 to 72 Mbps.

The digital connectivity manager is working with an organisation called Connecting Devon and Somerset, as well as local suppliers, to understand their rollout plans and identify communities which fall outside of these which needsupporting. 

The broadband provider, Airband, is currently building a fibre network in Totnes.

South Hams and West Devon are also working with community groups that are not currently due to get fibre, helping with ‘gigabit’ vouchers. 

The Government is providing up to £210 million of voucher funding to help people with broadband speeds in rural areas.

Vouchers worth up to £1,500 for homes and £3,500 for businesses are aimed at covering the costs of installing gigabit broadband.

The Government’s target is for gigabit broadband to be available nationwide by 2030.

Gigabit-capable broadband means download speeds of at least one gigabit-per-second (or 1000 megabits per second), which would allow a high-definition film to be downloaded in under a minute.

In September 2021, 46 per cent of UK premises had a gigabit-broadband connection available, according to telecoms regulator Ofcom.

The Government has pledged £5 billion to deliver gigabit broadband to properties not reached by the commercial market, which is about 20 per cent of the UK. These properties are mostly in rural areas.