Multi Million Pound Partnership Completes Superfast Broadband Roll-out at Major Suffolk Business Park
.Multi Million Pound Partnership Completes Superfast Broadband Roll-out at Major Suffolk Business Park
Better Broadband for Suffolk (BBfS) today announced it had completed its roll-out of high-speed fibre broadband at the Haverhill Business Park.
The multi million pound partnership between Suffolk County Council, the Government and BT has just upgraded its seventh and final fibre broadband cabinet on the business park, making superfast broadband speeds available to the remaining 87 businesses.
Visiting the business park on Thursday afternoon, local MP and Minister of State for Digtal and Culture, Matt Hancock, urged local businesses to consider the benefits of a high-speed fibre broadband connection, which they can now easily order via their chosen broadband service provider.
The Minister visited the new cabinet on the corner of Rookwood Way and Hollands Road in Haverhill to learn more about the engineering behind the technology.
Matt Hancock said: “Nine out ten premises in the UK can now get superfast broadband and the completion of the Haverhill Business Park rollout is fantastic news for local businesses. Superfast broadband can transform the way a company trades, boosting both employment and profits, and I urge Haverhill businesses to contact their internet supplier to ask about upgrading.”
The Minister also met with a local business, which will be benefitting from the exciting technology, as well as the engineering team behind the exciting technology
Hamid Moazzeni, managing director of Alphatech, said: “We can’t wait for our lines to be upgraded in the next couple of weeks. It will completely transform our business. The ability to transmit large files quickly will enable us to fulfil the needs of our global customers much easier and help us compete. We had considered leaving the Haverhill park due to the lack of fibre broadband, but this upgrade will allow us to stay local.”
Councillor Jane Storey, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Member for broadband and rural issues and localities, said: “I am very pleased to see this cabinet connection complete as we have been speaking to the business community in Haverhill and really pushing to get this final connection made in the business park for some time. The opportunities that high speed fibre broadband offers this community mean that businesses can make important system upgrades and improve speed of service and business processes. This will make a really positive difference to productivity for the businesses located in Haverhill.”
Kim Mears, managing director of infrastructure delivery for BT’s local network business, Openreach, said: “Driving strong take-up is especially important in areas covered by the BBfs programme, as high adoption rates will trigger the release of further funds for investment into the network. We very much welcome Matt Hancock MP’s efforts to highlight the many benefits this technology offers to his constituents. When our own commercial fibre broadband programme is also included, it means that more than 300,000 Suffolk homes and businesses now have access to this exciting technology.
“As the UK is one of the most competitive broadband markets in the world, with dozens of providers offering services, people may be pleasantly surprised when they look into the costs of an upgrade to their best-ever broadband speeds.”
As broadband deployment under the programme continues, residents and businesses interested in upgrading are encouraged to frequently visit the Better Broadband for Suffolk website (www.betterbroadbandsuffolk.com) to check to see if their home or business can now receive faster broadband services.
The Better Broadband for Suffolk programme aims to extend coverage of superfast broadband to 95 per cent of Suffolk premises by 2019, as the next major step in the council’s plans towards full coverage by 2020.
All of the engineering work as part of Better Broadband for Suffolk is being carried out by Openreach. This means residents and businesses with access to fibre broadband can choose from a wide range of internet service providers and benefit from competitive pricing and products.
