Lancashire flies past 500 superfast broadband cabinet milestone
Rural beauty spot of Slaidburn the latest place to benefit from fibre broadband
The Superfast Lancashire project has now delivered more than 500 fibre broadband street cabinets across Lancashire as part of a technology revolution connecting communities and boosting business.
The latest place to benefit is the rural beauty spot of Slaidburn, next to the Hodder River in the Forest of Bowland.
Victoria Wood, owner of the Hark to Bounty Inn, who has already started using fibre broadband at her home, has no doubts about the benefits brought by the new network.
Victoria, who has lived in the village for ten years and runs the pub with her partner, Nicholas Hey, said: “What would it be like in a house with a 12-year-old and a 15-year-old without the internet?......Meltdown. It would be an absolute nightmare. Now with the fast speeds we can stream videos and programmes without them coming to a halt every few minutes. If Sarah [12] and Barton [15] are not on U Tube, they are on the X Box. I ordered fibre broadband as soon as it arrived in the village.”
And Victoria is looking forward to the day when she has high speed broadband installed in her pub.
Steve Edwards, BT’s director of Next Generation Access said: ““Fibre broadband brings together, and connects, communities in rural Lancashire. It is crucial to village businesses, for those who work from home and for family entertainment. Engineers from BT’s local network business, Openreach, have worked hard in some very difficult and challenging conditions to bring this technology to villages like Slaidburn, which would not have benefitted from superfast broadband without the Superfast Lancashire partnership.”
Lancashire County Councillor Sean Serridge, Champion for Digital Inclusion, said: "Reaching 500 live cabinets is a major engineering achievement and demonstrates Superfast Lancashire's progress in making access to fibre broadband a reality for thousands more Lancashire's homes and businesses. I'm sure that the people of Slaidburn are looking forward to enjoying the benefits that this technology will bring."
Superfast Lancashire has now commissioned more than 500 of the 900 fibre broadband roadside cabinets it is installing across the county. Along with BT’s own commercial rollout of the technology, it aims to make fibre broadband available to 97 per cent of Lancashire households and businesses. Fibre broadband is now being used to make booking accommodation easier and faster, simplify firm’s finances, as well as boosting performance of smartphones, tablets and video conferencing. It has revolutionised home working and entertainment. At home, fibre broadband enables a family simultaneously to download a movie, watch a TV replay service, surf the internet and play games online all at the same time. Music albums and high definition films can be downloaded quickly whilst high-resolution photos can be uploaded to Facebook.
Up to ten Openreach engineers have been working on the Slaidburn link up. Across Lancashire, 520 kms of fibre cable has been laid and a special 2.5 kms spur has been built to the village.
To find out if fibre broadband is available in your area go to the Superfast Lancashire website at: www.superfastlancashire.com
The new network is available on an equal basis to all broadband service providers, thereby ensuring competitive pricing and products for local households and businesses. Download speeds up to 80Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mpbs are available.*
Superfast Lancashire is a partnership between Lancashire County Council and BT, with additional funding from the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK, as well as the European Regional Development Fund, Blackburn with Darwen Council and Blackpool Council.
Notes to Editors
* 80Mbps and 20Mbps are wholesale speeds. ISPs may use different speeds in their advertising. Individual line speeds will depend on network infrastructure and the service chosen by the ISP
Superfast Lancashire’s Business Support Programme is governed by eligibility criteria defined by the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) based on size, primary activity, turnover etc. Businesses will be expected to complete an initial short self-certification form which will be validated by one of the advisors.
The programme will link with other key support initiatives across Lancashire. This will enable businesses to gain from the extended benefits of complementary programmes such as Regenerate Pennine Lancashire, subject to not having exceeded their ERDF allowance.
The Business Support Programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in partnership with Superfast Lancashire.
BT is contributing £30 million to the Superfast Lancashire project whilst £10.8 million will come from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), £16.5 million from the European Regional Development Fund and £5.2 million from local councils (£4.7m from LCC, £300,000 from Blackburn with Darwen Council and £230,000 from Blackpool Council).
This project is part financed by the North West 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
https://www.gov.uk/erdf-programmes-and-resources#north-west
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
