Fibre broadband available to 12,000 homes and businesses in Derbyshire thanks to Digital Derbyshire
Overseal, Kirk Langley and Duffield among latest communities to benefit
More than 12,000 homes and businesses across Derbyshire now have access to high-speed fibre broadband thanks to the Digital Derbyshire partnership.
The latest communities to benefit from the new technology are Overseal, Kirk Langley and Duffield. Work is also nearing completion in Grindleford and Melbourne and local households and businesses there are expected to be able to place orders by Christmas.
Since April, the partnership between Derbyshire County Council and BT has installed 56 new fibre broadband cabinets and laid more than 90,000 metres of underground cables throughout the county.
Councillor Joan Dixon, Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Jobs, Economy and Transport, said: “We’re pressing ahead with the project to bring fibre broadband to a further 88,000 premises across Derbyshire, bringing access to more than 95 per cent of homes and businesses by the end of 2016.
“The internet plays such a big role in our daily lives and Digital Derbyshire will open up endless business and leisure opportunities, help to boost our rural areas, support economic growth and allow local communities to continue to thrive.”
Steve Henderson, regional director of next generation access in the East Midlands, for BT, says: “I’m incredibly pleased that our rollout of superfast broadband in Derbyshire is proceeding at pace with more than 12,000 homes and businesses able to access a much faster and reliable service as a result. We are witnessing a transformation of the digital landscape of Derbyshire, and the work being done will deliver a substantial boost to the local economy.”
Digital Derbyshire is a £27.67m project led by Derbyshire County Council in partnership with the UK Government and BT to extend access to fibre broadband to more than 95 per cent of Derbyshire’s businesses and residents by the end of 2016.
It aims to build on the private sector’s roll-out of fibre broadband on a phase by phase basis; BT’s commercial roll-out in Derbyshire has already made high-speed fibre broadband available to more than 365,000 homes and businesses.
The new network is ‘open’ meaning homes and businesses benefit from a choice of communications providers operating in a highly competitive market.
Since Digital Derbyshire was launched in April, the project has already provided access to fibre broadband in places like Ashbourne, Bolsover and Long Eaton.
The next stages of the project will see work taking place in Horsley, Clay Cross, and continuing in Darley Dale and Bakewell.
BT is contributing £12.87m to the project while the county council is contributing £4.9m. A further £7.4m is coming from the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK fund, as well as £2.5m from the European Regional Development Fund.
Why should a business upgrade to fibre?
• 7 out of 10 businesses using fibre optic broadband say it’s made them more efficient
• Fibre can be up to x6 times faster than average broadband speeds so businesses can get more done. For example, download a 100 MB file in less than half a minute or upload 30 photos to your website in less than a minute
• Cut down on travel to meetings by using high quality video conferencing
• Many broadband products also give customers access to Wi-Fi hotspots when out and about.
Businesses wanting to find out more about Digital Derbyshire should visit the project website at www.digitalderbyshire.org.uk.
ENDS
About Digital Derbyshire
The Delivering Digital Derbyshire project is part financed by the East Midlands competitiveness and employment 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 BDUK
Superfast Britain is a Government programme of investment 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 is comprised of three elements:
• £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
