A RURAL community internet company is hoping to connect 3,000 homes and businesses in Oxfordshire after acquiring a high-speed broadband provider.

Rural broadband specialist Voneus hoped to expand broadband provision in rural parts of the county after taking control of Cotswold Wireless.

Cotswold Wireless specialises in high speed broadband for the Cotswolds, helping more than 400 homes and businesses in the region.

It is the first time either firm has undertaken a move of this scale.

Steve Leighton, chief executive of Voneus, said: "Our mission is to rescue rural communities from the pain and indignity of slow broadband, without them having to wait years for fibre.

"Buying Cotswold Wireless, helps accelerate this.

"The important thing is increased access to communities and we want to make sure the ‘digital divide’ between urban and rural areas drastically decreases so people can go about their everyday lives interruption-free."

Tristram Charnley, founder of Cotswold Wireless added: "Being part of the bigger Voneus network will give our existing customers access to new products, increased service benefits and other opportunities over time."

Voneus says it specialises in wireless ‘air fibre’.

The company said new customers can be live and receive high speed broadband within months with no roads required to be dug up.

The company currently has ongoing installations in Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Wiltshire as well as Oxfordshire.

Voneus, who first entered the market in 2011, has scaled its expansion plans since raising £5.3m growth funding in June 2017.