Homes, businesses and communities can now enjoy the benefits of superfast broadband in 95% of the county, as Nottinghamshire succeeds the national target by a year.
Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire (BBfN) is an initiative to enable people across the county to access the internet at a minimum speed of 24 Megabits per second (Mbps), in both rural and residential areas. The first phase of this project now means that 95% of Nottinghamshire homes and businesses can browse the web, transfer files and do business much faster than was previously possible.
The second phase of the BBfN programme – being rolled out immediately thanks to successful delivery of the first – will aim to have 98% of the Nottinghamshire area connected to superfast broadband by the end of 2018. It is being part-funded by £2.63million from D2N2, the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. D2N2 is a private-sector-led partnership of businesses, local authorities, skills and training providers and community and voluntary organisations. It works to grow its areas economy, with the aim of creating 55,000 new jobs in ten years (2013-2023).
As part of this mission, D2N2 has been allocated a total of £192million Local Growth Funding (LGF) from Government. £2.63million of this is going towards the second phase of the BBfN scheme and a further £2.19million of D2N2’s LGF allocation has been allocated to the next phase of the Digital Derbyshire Scheme, which, like the BBfN programme, aims to have 98% of its area connected to superfast broadband. This represents a total £4.8million investment by D2N2 in its areas digital infrastructure and the businesses, particularly those involved in creative and digital industries – one of D2N2’s eight key sectors – who will make use of the improved speeds.
Nationally, 91.3% of the country has access to superfast broadband. The East Midlands has a significantly higher portion at 94% connectivity and Nottinghamshire higher still at 95.4%. By the end of 2018 it is hoped that the combined efforts of Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire and Digital Derbyshire will have achieved 98% coverage across the D2N2 area, reaching approximately 180,000 homes and businesses.
David Ralph, Chief Executive of D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Widening access to faster, fibre optic-based broadband is a core priority for D2N2.
“Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire represents an opportunity to boost economic growth and create jobs for all businesses, but we see the programme as of particular benefit to the creative and digital industries, which we have identified as a key economic sector in our area.”
Residents and businesses can find out more about the benefits of broadband and check if their property falls within the BBfN roll out areas at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/broadband
For more information on the D2N2 LEP’s work generally, click here
To find out the broadband speeds of different areas across the country, click here
For more information on the above release, please contact Sam Burbage, Social Media and Marketing Officer at the D2N2 LEP, on 01159 578254, or by email: sam.burbage@d2n2lep.org
For further information on the BBfN programme contact Rob Shirley, Senior Media Officer at Nottinghamshire County Council on 01159 772802
