Free community workshops highlighting the benefits of faster broadband speeds and how to upgrade are being staged across Rutland.

Across Rutland, superfast broadband has been made available to around 10,000 homes and businesses since 2012, thanks to the work of the Digital Rutland partnership, in addition to the thousands of premises also covered by Openreach's commercial rollout.

This means more than 96 per cent of homes and businesses in Rutland can already upgrade. In fact more than six out of 10 – the highest in the country - have already done so.

But it's thought many people might not be aware it's available, think they've automatically been upgraded or mistakenly believe it's going to be too expensive.

As part of efforts to increase the take up of superfast broadband in Rutland, a series of free workshops have been organised for local communities throughout March, offering expert advice on how to upgrade.

These are being held at:

• The Northwick Arms, Ketton, 11th March 2019, 18.00 - 19.00

• Market Overton Village Hall, 12th March 2019, 18.00 - 19.00

• Whissendine Village Hall, 13th March 2019, 18.00 - 19.00

• Langham Village Hall, 14th March 2019, 19.00 - 20.00

A short video has been produced by the Digital Rutland partnership between Rutland County Council and Openreach and presented by independent broadband expert Rob Kirwan.

The film features local residents and business owners who've already upgraded to a superfast broadband connection and encourages others to do the same.

Council Leader Oliver Hemsley explains: "Making superfast broadband as widely available as possible is a priority for the council and our work with Openreach has made a huge impact right across the county.

"We've taken faster speeds into our most rural communities, transforming the way people can use the internet for home life or business use.

"It's proving really popular but we still hear from people who are don't realise they can order superfast broadband, months after we've made the service available where they live.

"The best place to check what's available to your home or business, is to check the Openreach website, or contact Digital Rutland directly. Upgrading doesn't always cost more money either. There's a huge amount of choice from a wide range of broadband providers, and in many cases there is no cost difference."

Upgrading doesn't happen automatically. People living or working a fibre-enabled area need to contact their service provider to enquiry about upgrading to a fibre package.