TAKE-UP of a high speed internet initiative part-funded by the taxpayer has been more dial-up than fibre optic.

Only 3.2 per cent of premises have signed up for faster download speeds provided by Superfast Worcestershire, despite the county council committing £8.5 million to the project.

The figures, which have been released in response to a Freedom of Information request, show that just 219 properties of a possible 6,833 had opted in by the end of September.

Worcestershire County Council however has defended the slow start, claiming the scheme is in the “very early stages” and efforts will be made to “stimulate demand” over the coming months.

But county councillor Paul Denham, a critic of the project, labelled the sign-up statistics as “very disappointing”.

He said: “Given the financial hardship in the country and the county, is this really the best way to spend millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money when people are homeless, struggling on benefits and relying on foodbanks?

“Certainly the rate of sign-up is very low and that rather questions whether there is demand in the first place.

“Many people will be served by the fibre optic network but may not be able to afford it and as a large, national company BT should be able to provide a universal service without public subsidy.”

The Labour councillor added he recognises that high-speed internet access is important for both businesses and households, but feels the multi-million pound budget could be better spent elsewhere.

Superfast Worcestershire is a £20 million partnership project between Worcestershire County Council and BT designed to bring download speeds of up to 80 megabits per second to 90 per cent of the county’s residents and businesses by June 2016.

It builds on the commercial roll-out of fibre broadband by BT and others and is installing an open network, meaning people can sign up with a number of communication companies.

This approach will guarantee “a highly competitive market, bringing greater choice and affordable prices from a wide range of service providers”, according to the Superfast Worcestershire website.

Fibre optic deals are available in parts of Worcester for as little as £5 per month with EE and Talk Talk, according to comparison site uswitch.com

Worcestershire County Council will pump £8.5 million into Superfast Worcestershire while BT and the government’s Broadband Delivery UK fund will contribute £8.9 million and £3.35 million respectively.

The project milestone of connecting 10,000 businesses and homes into the network was celebrated as a “fantastic achievement” by the county council on Friday, November 14, but the disclosure of the actual sign-up data casts doubt on the scheme’s success.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, deputy leader of Worcestershire County Council, however has strongly defended the initiative.

He said: "At the time of the Freedom of Information request, take-up was 3.2 per cent of 6,833, which was the total number of premises passed.

“However the Superfast Worcestershire programme deployment is still in the very early stages, having launched the first cabinet on May 30.

"This means that many of the premises that were connected went live in September.

“Therefore many customers would not yet have had the opportunity to sign up due to being tied into existing contracts.

“We are looking to focus on stimulating demand over the coming months and throughout the programme."