The North Nottinghamshire village of Blyth is celebrating the arrival of superfast broadband – making it the latest success story in a county-wide rollout, part-funded by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership.
Nottinghamshire County Council, in partnership with BT, first made fibre broadband available to homes and businesses in June 2014. So far, the Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire (BBfN) programme has made the new technology available to almost 47,000 properties across the county.
D2N2 – the Local Enterprise Partnership for Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – is fully committed to the delivery of superfast broadband across its area and is investing £4.8m through it Local Growth Fund to ensure businesses in the area can gain access to the advantages of high-speed internet.
Left to Right; Florence Cotton, Parish Council Clerk, Councillor Jo White, Bassetlaw District Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Councillor Diana Meale, Chair of the Economic Development Committee and Lead for Broadband Development, Steve Henderson, Regional Director of BT Group, Peter Morley, Senior Project Manager for Open Reach, local Bassetlaw District Councillor Barry Bowles and Parish Councillor Mike Griffiths.
For many Blyth residents, the installation of their superfast broadband ‘cabinet’ (the scheme’s 250th one) will mean they will be able to work from home, download music and films faster, buy and sell goods online, play games, video-message friends, access online council services and watch TV on-demand for the first time.
More than 500 Blyth homes and businesses are now able to access download speeds of up to 80Mbps (Megabytes per second). Residents and businesses will need to contact their internet service provider to sign-up to faster fibre services, as it doesn’t happen automatically.
BBfN provides the infrastructure for a fibre broadband service to residents and businesses in areas of the county not served by commercial companies, such as BT or Virgin Media.In the Bassetlaw District 70% of homes and businesses are covered by the private sector’s commercial rollout. However, thanks to BBfN, at least 95% of the district (and 97% of Nottinghamshire as a whole) will be able to get access to fibre broadband by Spring 2018.
Funding for BBfN has been provided by a wide-range of organisations, including the County Council, BT, Broadband Delivery UK (the Government’s broadband delivery arm), D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, the European Regional Development Fund and District and Borough Councils in Nottinghamshire, including Bassetlaw District Council.
David Ralph, Chief Executive for D2N2, the Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Superfast broadband is a vital component in modern business operations. As Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire reaches this important milestone, it is clear that it will continue to be a catalyst for future economic growth in the area.”
Councillor Diana Meale, Chair of Economic Development Committee at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “BBfN is one of the largest and most ambitious infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Notts and is being delivered on-time and on-budget. To have our 250th cabinet going live in just 12 months is an incredible achievement. I am delighted for the people of Blyth that their days of slow broadband and endless buffering are now over.”
Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey said: “250 communities in Nottinghamshire can now get superfast broadband as a result of the Government’s rollout and I congratulate Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire on their progress to date. Every day our rollout reaches 5,000 more homes and businesses across the UK and by 2017 95% of the UK will have access to superfast broadband.”
Due to the way in which the programme is delivered, new fibre cabinets will continue to go live at regular intervals during the coming weeks and months. For the most up-to-date information, including broadband coverage in your area, visit www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/broadband
Media wanting further information on D2N2 can contact Sean Kirby, Communications Officer, on the D2N2 Newsdesk, on 0115 9578749 or email: sean.kirby@d2n2lep.org
