More than 1,400 social housing tenants in Thurrock will very soon have access to ultrafast gigabit broadband, with thousands more set to follow.

Last year, Thurrock Council agreed a pioneering partnership with Hyperoptic – the UK’s largest gigabit broadband provider – to install its full fibre broadband across 12 of its social housing developments.

With that phase of the project almost complete, the council has now extended the agreement with Hyperoptic to a further 20 social housing developments in Thurrock.

Cllr Shane Hebb, Thurrock Council’s portfolio holder for Finance, said:

“I am extremely pleased that this programme continues to be a real success and tenants living in 12 of our social housing developments in Thurrock will very soon all have access to ultrafast gigabit broadband.

“In this digital age, it is vital that residents have that connectivity available, and this partnership has enabled that to be provided at no cost to our taxpayers.”

Cllr Barry Johnson, Thurrock Council’s portfolio holder for Housing, added:

“The availability of flexible packages such as a broadband-only service and contract-free options has meant we have also been able to remove some of the barriers for our tenants.

“The feedback so far has been very pleasing and I am delighted we have now extended the agreement to include a further 20 of our social housing developments.”

Floyd Widener, Chief Sales Officer, Hyperoptic:

“We are committed to work hand-in-glove with the public sector to help get tenants online, so they can benefit from everything the Internet has to offer.

“Thurrock Council was among our first council partnerships and we have continued to work closely with them to monitor the positive feedback and impact of our connectivity, which we are delighted to provide at zero cost to the taxpayer.”

Last week Hyperoptic announced that over 160,000 social housing properties have access, or are imminently due to be connected, to its full fibre network.