Beadnell hotel boosted by super-fast fibre broadband
A hotel in Beadnell is transforming the way it does business thanks to the iNorthumberland roll-out of fibre broadband, which has just reached the coastal village.
The Beadnell Towers Hotel placed its order the day the new technology went live and owner, Mick Colvin, is now enjoying super-fast speeds of around 40Mbps.
Mick said: “Fibre broadband has made a big improvement to the business. I can move around from site to site so much quicker and promote free wifi to guests and diners. Our customers are really impressed with the speeds and how quickly then can send and receive data.
“Keeping guests and staff up to date via our Facebook and Twitter page is almost instantaneous, all of which frees up my time for other work and makes life much easier.”
More than 600 homes and businesses in Beadnell now have access to the high-speed, fibre technology and many have already placed orders with their chosen broadband service provider. Work to upgrade homes and businesses in the nearby villages of Seahouses and North Sunderland is also underway, with the first customers already connected and more to follow in the coming weeks.
John Woodman, councillor for Bamburgh Division, said: “Rolling out fibre broadband will make a big difference to businesses and the economic development of the area so I'm delighted the roll-out has arrived in Beadnell.
“Improving our infrastructure is one of the emerging themes of our neighbourhood plan and it shows that community involvement and persistence really can make a difference.”
The iNorthumberland broadband programme, is delivered by Arch, The Northumberland Development Company and BT. BT is contributing £2.9 million towards fibre deployment in “non-commercial” areas with Northumberland County Council investing £7 million plus its £7 million share of the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK programme. The remaining £2 million is coming from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Cllr Dave Ledger, chairman of Arch and deputy leader of Northumberland County Council, said: “Our aim is to bring faster broadband speeds to every home, business and school in Northumberland.
“Even in this early stage of the programme we are hearing very positive stories from local people and businesses about the benefits faster broadband speeds are bringing to them. We look forward to making the same difference to many more Northumberland communities in the weeks and months ahead.”
iNorthumberland is working hard to provide the best connectivity possible for areas not currently featured in BT’s commercial roll-out plans, which has already made fibre broadband available in many locations across the county.
Farooq Hakim, BT’s regional director for the North East, said: This major investment in fibre broadband is already bringing huge benefits to many homes and businesses in Northumberland. Households are using the technology for education and leisure purposes, whilst local firms, such as the Beadnell Towers Hotel, are boosting their competitiveness and growing their businesses
“Rolling out fibre broadband is not without its challenges, but we are committed to making this exciting technology as widely available as possible. Reaching Beadnell alone involved hundreds of man hours and the laying of around 23 kilometres of fibre.
“Every community reached is an achievement and everyone working on this project, from engineers to the programme team, gets real job satisfaction from overcoming the challenges and reaching another town or village in the county.”
For up to date information visit www.inorthumberland.org.uk follow @my_broadband on Twitter or find ‘iNorthumberland’ on Facebook or email enquiries@archdigital.co.uk .
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
Superfast Britain is a Government investment of £1.08bn in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race. The portfolio comprises three linked programmes:
• £780m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017
• £150m to provide high speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities
• £150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and basic data network services.
Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life.
For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk
ERDF
The iNorthumberland Digital Economy Growth Programme project is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 to 2013. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme, which is one of the funds established by the European Commission to help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support local businesses and create jobs. For more information visit: www.gov.uk/browse/business/funding-debt/european-regional-development-funding
About Arch
Arch, The Northumberland Development Company, has been established by Northumberland County Council as an arms-length development company to drive capital economic development, physical regeneration projects and business growth in Northumberland. Arch brings together five subsidiary companies delivering services in housing, commercial property, physical regeneration, digital transformation and business growth. The company has a clear economic focus and will help Northumberland develop credible sites and propositions to win new jobs and businesses for the area.
