Fibre broadband takes off at famous Lincolnshire RAF base
Broadband speeds at the Lincolnshire home of the famous Red Arrows are soaring thanks to the county council’s broadband partnership with BT.
RAF Scampton is within the latest area to benefit from Onlincolnshire’s countywide roll-out.
A new fibre broadband cabinet that serves the base has just been installed and switched on, meaning military families and servicemen and women living there can now access download speeds of up to 80 megabits per second and uploads of up to 20Mbps.
The arrival of faster fibre broadband follows months of careful planning by engineers from Openreach – BT’s local network business – due to the rural location of the new fibre broadband cabinet and its proximity to an active military base.
Cllr Colin Davie, Executive Member for Economic Development, said: "We're seeing a real increase in the number of people signing up for superfast broadband, and with the improvements being rolled out even more will be able to benefit.
“Improved broadband is not only vital for business growth, but for all residents accessing services, including the growing number of silver surfers, and for young people looking to download learning materials. The possibilities are endless. So check our website to find out whether you're in a superfast area, and contact your internet service provider to upgrade your package."
Steve Henderson, BT’s regional director of next generation access said: “Across the county more than 306,000 homes and businesses now have access to high-speed fibre broadband thanks to Onlincolnshire and BT’s own commercial fibre broadband programme. We are now reaching into the heart of scores of communities across the region bringing them within reach of this vital technology and enabling them to fly the internet at superfast speeds.”
More than 78,500 homes and businesses across the county now have access to fibre broadband thanks to Onlincolnshire, which aims to build on the private sector’s roll-out of fibre broadband; BT’s commercial rollout has already made high-speed fibre broadband available to more than 228,000 homes and businesses in Lincolnshire.
As part of the Onlincolnshire project, 342 new roadside fibre cabinets have already been installed and around 500kms of fibre cable laid as part of the rollout – enough to stretch along the main runway at RAF Scampton more than 180 times.
Because the work is being carried out by Openreach, residents and businesses wanting to upgrade have a wide choice of providers, with more than 140 fibre broadband companies now operating in the UK.
Benefits of fibre broadband include faster download and upload speeds; the ability to access the internet via multiple devices without experiencing a slow connection, faster downloads of films and music, a better online gaming experience, improved file sharing for businesses, solutions based on Cloud computing and being able to work more flexibly.
For more information about the Onlincolnshire partnership between Lincolnshire County Council and BT please visit www.onlincolnshire.org
NOTES TO EDITORS
About BT
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of five lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Business, BT Consumer, BT Wholesale and Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 2014, BT Group’s reported revenue was £18,287m with reported profit before taxation of £2,312m.
About Onlincolnshire
Onlincolnshire builds on the commercial fibre broadband roll-out by the private sector, which has already made the high-speed technology available to 166,000 homes and businesses in the county.
So far, around 500km of new fibre broadband infrastructure has been laid by engineers from Openreach, BT’s local network division, to bring the new services to the county.
The high-speed network installed will be available on an equal, wholesale basis to all companies providing broadband services to homes and businesses.
About Superfast Britain
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
About the European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) was set up in 1975 to stimulate economic development in less prosperous regions of the European Union. ERDF is provided to support the European Union’s cohesion policy that seeks to redress imbalances in development between regions and Member States. It is used to support projects that can help local economies address the challenges of globalisation and contribute to delivering Europe’s 2020 strategy of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Information about the European Union’s support for regions is available athttp://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm
