OTTERY and its surrounding areas are in line for state-of-the art superfast internet- but not for three years, say British Telecom (BT) bosses.

OTTERY and its surrounding areas are in line for state-of-the art superfast internet- but not for three years, say British Telecom (BT) bosses.

After spending half-a-year probing broadband speeds in West Hill, BT Openreach operations director Bob Challacombe told the Herald: “Super-fast broadband, using fibre-optic cabling and the very latest technology is on its way, but we are looking at around three years or so for it to arrive in the Ottery area. When super-fast arrives, speeds are likely to be around ten times the current speeds.”

Mr Challacombe came to Ottery after West Hill representative Councillor Claire Wright embarked on a mission to net villagers a more reliable service. Around 2,000 homes will benefit from improvements to cabling.

Mr Challacombe added: “Residents can always ask their suppliers for an engineering visit to see what if anything can be done to improve speed. This could well involve a charge, so individual communication suppliers should always be contacted in the first instance to see if any internal wiring changes might help. Each provider will have their own charging mechanism for such work and charges might well vary between suppliers.”