Digital boost for rural film studio
AN award-winning rural film and multimedia company based near Aberdeen has been given a much-needed digital boost, thanks to an ultrafast broadband connection.
Cinecosse outside Inverurie is one of the many local businesses able to upgrade to faster broadband after the £463 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) deployment across the region.
Celebrating more than 40 years’ creativity, the company has produced and directed commercials, videos and television programmes for brands like National Trust for Scotland, Scottish Rural College, Quality Meat Scotland and Baxters.
And now a new gigabit-capable full fibre broadband service means owner Graeme Mowat and his team have all the bandwidth they need to continue delivering outstanding digital content for clients at their Lethenty Mill HQ.
The Digital Scotland build – led locally by the Scottish Government and delivered on the ground by engineers from Openreach - now covers more than 87,900 Aberdeenshire homes and businesses in places like St Cyrus, Port Soy and Turriff.
Established in 1978 by a group of ex-BBC production staff to fill a gap for creative and multimedia companies in the North East of Scotland, the Cinecosse team is well known in the area.
A reliable, fast connection has made a major difference to the day-to-day running of the bandwidth-hungry business and helped it to retain a roster of top clients.
Graeme said: “Faster broadband has improved how we work with our clients. We can now email large files and creative briefs with ease and share content like show reels, video and animation files swiftly with them online.
“Our clients are mostly from the corporate world, so we need to nail the brief and production first time round. From tourism, food and drinks and public services to the oil and gas industries, we have a range of customers we need to impress.
“Most of our work – from concept and pre-production to delivery – relies on a robust internet connection. It’s been a great confidence boost knowing that we can keep producing the work at our multi-purpose studio thanks to the greater bandwidth.
“A lot has changed digitally over the years. Faster broadband helps us keep up with new technologies, remain relevant and adapt successfully to our clients’ needs.”
The DSSB programme is delivered through two projects, led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in its area and the Scottish Government in the rest of Scotland. Funding partners also include the UK Government through Building Digital UK (BDUK), BT Group, local authorities and the EU via the European Regional Development Fund.
Sara Budge, DSSB Programme Director, said: “It’s great to see local organisations like Cinecosse benefiting from better broadband speeds. Improved digital connectivity across rural Aberdeenshire stimulates economic and inclusive growth. It’s encouraging to see the impact across the Creative Arts Industries and what this means for the North East in years to come.
“Thanks to the £463 million DSSB programme more businesses and homes are able access and upgrade to faster broadband, resulting in a better online experience.
“Just remember upgrades are not automatic - you need to place an order with your chosen service provider - and you can check availability at www.scotlandsuperfast.com/yourstreet.”
Robert Thorburn, Openreach Partnership Director, added: “Digital connectivity is a game changer for rural businesses, helping them to start up, compete and thrive. It opens new employment opportunities, revitalising communities, and helps to underpin a sustainable local economy.
“The DSSB partnership has now reached 87,900 homes and business premises in Aberdeenshire, with four out of five able to connect to superfast service at speeds of 30Mbps or more. And it’s fantastic to see the difference it makes to rural-based businesses like Cinecosse.
“There’s more to do – in the final stages of the project our engineers are building ultrafast full fibre to some of the hardest-to-reach clusters of homes.”
Fibre broadband offers fast and reliable connections at a range of speeds1 using Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) or Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP or full fibre) technology. Across Scotland, of the 944,000 homes and businesses now reached by the programme, more than 60 per cent have signed up.
Engineers can do a large amount of work outside, and upgrades can often be completed without entering your property. Some types of work may require a short visit, in line with social distancing. Extra safety precautions are in place and you can read about them here.
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[1] Wholesale services are available over the Openreach network to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary. FTTC (fibre-to-the-cabinet) is available at speeds of up to 80Mbps. FTTP (fibre-to-the-premises) is capable of delivering the fastest residential broadband speeds in the UK – up to 1Gbps – fast enough to download a two-hour HD movie in 25 seconds or a 45-minute HD TV programme in just five seconds.
Photo caption: Graeme Mowat from Cinecosse is delighted with the superfast speed his business now receives.
