Onlincolnshire reaches 100,000 properties with high-speed fibre broadband
Speeds at RAF Scampton soar
Broadband speeds across Lincolnshire are soaring thanks to the county council’s broadband partnership with BT.
The Onlincolnshire project is this week announcing that high-speed fibre broadband has now reached more than 100,000 homes and businesses. It’s also being revealed that RAF Scampton, home of the famous Red Arrows, is one of the areas to recently benefit from the countywide roll-out.
A new fibre broadband cabinet that serves the base has 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*.
Wing Commander Mike Harrop, Station Commander at RAF Scampton, said: “Essential investment like this in the county’s infrastructure has complemented recent on-station investment at Scampton and has undoubtedly improved the quality of life for the military families living in this part of the county.”
The Onlincolnshire project builds 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.
Cllr Richard Davies, executive member for IT at Lincolnshire County Council, 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."
The arrival of faster fibre broadband at RAF Scampton 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.
Steve Henderson, BT’s regional director of next generation access, said: “Across the county more than 328,000 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.”
As part of the Onlincolnshire project, more than 450 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 service 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
MEDIA CONTACTS
For more information please contact the Lincolnshire County Council press office on 01522 553930 or call the BT regional press office on 0800 085 0660.
*These are the top wholesale speeds available from BT’s local network division Openreach, to all broadband service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.
NOTES TO EDITORS
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 228,000 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 BT
BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world.It 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 customer-facing lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Business, BT Consumer, BT Wholesale and Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 2015, BT Group’s reported revenue was £17,979mwith reported profit before taxation of £2,645m.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.
For more information, visit www.btplc.com.
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 at http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm
