The Council of Milton Keynes look set to sign a 5 year contract with fixed and wireless broadband supplier Pipex for its own use - however, the contract will also see Pipex invest into unbundling the exchanges in and around the area - resulting in upto 24Mbps services being available across the majority if not the whole of the Milton Keynes area.

The news will be very welcome by those calling for faster services (and in some cases - a broadband service at the very least) such as the The Milton Keynes Broadband Action Group. Milton Keynes's telephone network, by the Council's own admission has a number of "shortcomings" - including low quality copper cables, long distances to exchanges and of course, TPON - Milton Keynes's infamous problem.

A second document from the Council outlines some interesting stats yeilded from a survey of residents of Milton Keynes, for example what users are prepared to pay for faster broadband services, eg that most were prepared to pay £25 per month for a 2Mbps service.

The meeting documents are available on the Milton Keynes County Council website here (Part 1) and here (Part 2)