Nottinghamshire Construction Company Builds Momentum As It Sets Superfast Broadband Milestone
Next communities to benefit from superfast broadband roll-out include Bilsthorpe, Farnsfield and Cotgrave
Local firm Gusto Construction has found that slow broadband speeds are a thing of the past after becoming Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire’s first superfast broadband customer.
The thriving local business based in the picturesque village of Collingham, Nottinghamshire has extensive experience in all types of residential and small to medium sized commercial construction projects.
“We’re demanding users of the internet. It’s fundamental to our business but we were struggling to get speeds of even 1Mbps on some days,” said Gusto chief executive Steff Wright.
“We we’re delighted when we heard about the Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire programme and even more delighted when we found out that Collingham was going to be the first place to benefit from the project.”
Gusto Construction is a customer of Newark based internet service provider Timico.
“We placed our order as soon as the cabinet was installed in the village. Within a matter of days our internet connection was boosted to a superfast 60Mbps.
It’s dramatically improved the way we operate. The speed and immediacy of our new connection allows us to all get online at the same time and do whatever we need to do almost instantly,” explained Steff.
“We’d been holding off on upgrading our operating system to Microsoft Office 365 because we didn’t think our internet connection would handle having so much data stored in the cloud but now we can use it seamlessly.
“But where we’ve really noticed the difference is with uploading files. We’ve now got 20Mbps upload speeds which means that our architects SGA, who regularly need to send large planning files between our sites and to their other customers, can now send them in a matter of seconds whereas it could take hours before. I can’t recommend it highly enough.”
Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire (BBfN) is a £19.8m programme led by Nottinghamshire County Council and BT. It aims to build on the private sector’s roll-out of fibre broadband to provide 95% of the county’s homes and businesses with access to the high speed technology during 2016.
The programme is well underway with more than 1,850 Nottinghamshire homes and businesses already able to benefit.
Bilsthorpe, Blyth, East Bridgford, Farnsfield, Misterton, Saundby, Cotgrave and Wymeswold will be the next areas to benefit with coverage being extended in Beeston, Bingham, East Leake, Hucknall, Radcliffe on Trent, Sandiacre, Warsop and Worksop. It is expected the majority of homes and businesses in these communities will be able to connect to the new network by Spring 2015.
To access the high-speed broadband network, people and companies in the upgraded areas should contact their chosen Internet Service Provider and enquire about a fast fibre connection
The new fibre-based network is open to all communications providers on an equivalent basis.
It means households and businesses in Nottinghamshire can benefit from a highly competitive market, bringing greater choice and affordable prices from a wide range of service providers.
The Superfast Broadband Nottinghamshire project is building on BT’s commercial investment in the county which will make fibre broadband available to more than 400,000 premises in the county by the end of 2014.
For full details of the programme, visit www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/broadband
ENDS
ENQUIRIES
For media enquiries, please contact:
Rob Shirley, Senior Media Officer, Nottinghamshire County Council 0115 977 2802 or rob.shirley@nottscc.gov.uk
BT’s regional newsroom on 0800 0850 660. All BT news releases can be accessed at www.btplc.com/news
NOTES TO EDITORS
Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire
The Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire project, led by Nottinghamshire County Council and BT will change the way Nottinghamshire lives, works, plays and learns by investing £19.8 million to extend the county’s next generation fibre optic cable based broadband network to 95% of homes and businesses.
It opens up huge opportunities to improve the quality of life and leisure prospects for Nottinghamshire families and will open new opportunities through online learning and faster access to information and services. It will provide a huge boost for businesses and the Nottinghamshire economy. Nottinghamshire firms will be able to find and establish new markets (locally, internationally, and globally), increase their competitiveness and create new jobs.
The £19.8m is broken down as follows: Nottinghamshire County Council - £2.15m; Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) – £4.5m; ERDF - £2.7m; BT - £9.3m; Nottinghamshire District Councils (Ashfield District Council , Bassetlaw District Council, Broxtowe Borough Council, Gedling Borough Council, Mansfield District Council, Newark and Sherwood District Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council) - £1m; Nottingham City Council - £150,000.
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
ERDF
The Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire 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
