25
October
2017
|
12:29
Europe/Amsterdam

2,200 extra East Riding homes and businesses to benefit from superfast broadband roll-out

Summary
Broadband East Riding today announced that around 2,200 more homes and businesses will get access to superfast broadband thanks to a further multi-million-pound boost in the programme.

Broadband East Ridingtoday announced that around 2,200 more homes and businesses will get access to superfast broadband thanks to a further multi-million-pound boost in the programme.

The Broadband East Riding partnership, between BDUK, East Riding of Yorkshire Council and BT Group, has already made fibre broadband available to more than 42,000premises across the East Riding.

The latest boost comes as a result of savings made in the first phase of the programme and, due to the high take-up of the fibre broadband technology by local households and businesses – a total boost of £6.198 million.

More than 50 villages and towns are expected to be included in the extended roll-out.

Councillor Jonathan Owen, deputy leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “The council welcomes the news that even more homes and businesses in the East Riding will benefit from superfast broadband, but we know that there is still more to do.

“Good, reliable internet connection is vitally important to many aspects of modern life, whether that be keeping in contact with family and friends or for businesses to remain competitive and provide timely services and products for customers.

“As the switchover to superfast is not automatic, the council strongly advises people to check their postcode at broadband.eastriding.gov.uk to identify if they are eligible to switch over and to then shop around for the best deal with an internet service provider of their choice.”

So far Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) has been the main technology rolled out in the East Riding by Openreach, the business responsible for Britain’s largest phone and broadband network. It typically offers download speeds of up to 80Mbps and increasingly the roll-out will include other technologies which will enable the programme to reach even more geographically challenging areas.

For the first time Fibre-to-the–Remote-Node (FTTRN) technology will be used in the East Riding to boost speeds in extremely remote communities. The technology works by installing a fibre optic cable – which runs from the local telephone exchange – much closer to the properties and using a small box called a ‘Remote Node’. Traditionally, BT would need to build a much larger street cabinet to bring fibre broadband to an area, but the remote node effectively acts like a miniature cabinet – and it can be positioned on telegraph poles, inside manholes or a variety of other locations. This means it can be deployed where space is at a premium or where the traditional approach is too complex or expensive to achieve.

FTTRN can also shorten the final length of copper cable which connects a home or business – so it gives more homes and businesses access to the fastest speeds up to 80 Mbps and even provides a more stable connection. It is part of a number of innovative technologies in BT’s toolkit which the company has designed to expand the reach of fibre broadband even further.

Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology capable of offering broadband ultrafast speeds of up to 1Gbps is already available to around 400homes and businesses in the East Riding, but that figure is set to be boosted as this programme reaches more communities where FTTC is not suitable.

Derek Richardson, Openreach programme director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “The Broadband East Riding programme continues at pace and we are more determined than ever to improve broadband speeds as widely as possible across the East Riding. By using a variety of solutions and innovative technologies we can ensure that superfast broadband reaches many small and rural communities who would otherwise be unable to benefit.”

To access the benefits of superfast broadband, residents and businesses should contact their internet service provider and enquire about an upgrade – as customers do not automatically get faster broadband once superfast broadband is available in an area.

For further information, visitwww.broadband.eastriding.gov.uk/