Full Fibre Broadband Comes to Blackpool - cooperative network to roll out full fibre to businesses and residents
News release 8 November 2019
Blackpool will be one of the first UK towns and cities to get full fibre gigabit broadband1 as a result of a multi-million pound investment that will deliver the fastest, most resilient broadband internet connection on the market.
A co-operative group from the private and public sectors are working together to roll out FIBRE BLACKPOOL a local full fibre network that will give an improved broadband internet connection to residents and businesses on the Fylde Coast.
The launch of the Fibre Blackpool initiative is a result of £3.1m of funding that was secured in Spring 2018 through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The grant has been used to expand a shared fibre infrastructure into Blackpool town centre and along the length of the coast’s tramline, from Squires Gate Lane and Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone all the way to Fleetwood and Hillhouse Technology Enterprise Zone, thus future-proofing the town with a full ‘fibre to the premises’ (FTTP) connection.
Shaun Fensom, secretary of the Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CNI) said, “Over the next two years we’ll be working with Blackpool to unlock a state-of-the-art fibre network for the benefit of both residents and businesses. The network will enable Internet service providers - members of our cooperative - to deliver some of the fastest internet connections available in the UK. They’ll be investing to connect businesses and residents along the Fylde Coast and in the two Enterprise Zones. That will mean faster, better connections, and bring yet more investment to Blackpool."
Connecting with Fibre Blackpool means:
- Fast reliable performance, no more buffering watching juddery videos or waiting for hours for films and music to upload
- Hyperfast speeds to power your bandwidth hungry applications – it will handle anything you throw at it from Netflix, Office 365, gaming online, voice over telephony and payroll services
- Competitively priced services to fulfil your individual requirements and premium services also available where a dedicated line is required
How do local residents and businesses benefit from the investment?
Gigabit vouchers, which are a one-off contribution to SMEs and residents, can be used by small businesses and the local communities surrounding them to contribute to the installation cost of a gigabit-capable connection.
- Businesses can claim up to £2,500 against the cost of connection either individually or as part of a group project.
- Residents can benefit from the scheme with a voucher worth £500 as part of a group project.
Residents and businesses can access the voucher scheme by registering their interest with one of the suppliers involved in the FIBRE BLACKPOOL scheme and who are working to deliver full fibre in the local area. The scheme is supplier-led which means suppliers will be requesting the voucher on behalf of their customers.
What’s full fibre?
The UK has more than 94% coverage for superfast broadband with speeds of 24 megabits per second or higher (in some areas Virgin is offering up to 500 Mb). However most superfast connections rely on copper telephone wires or TV cables from a box on the street to the home or place of business, which are limited in the speeds they can support, so for the fastest and most reliable broadband delivering gigabit speeds, a full fibre connection is required.
What’s a gigabit?
- Gigabit broadband is an internet connection that offers speeds of 1 Gigabit per second (1Gb) or more
- 1 Gigabit = 1,000 Megabits so it’s a big leap in connection speeds
- A 1GB service would allow you to download a HD film in seconds
- Full fibre services are capable of being symmetrical – meaning the download and upload speeds are the same.
For more information and to register your interest with an active supplier working to deliver full fibre services in the local area, visit FIBRE BLACKPOOL
-ENDS-
Notes to Editor:
For further information please contact Deborah Simcock MCIPR MPRCA
PR & Communications Consultant
DJLS Consulting
m. 07801 443022
www.djlsconsulting.wordpress.com
www.linkedin.com/in/deborahsimcock/
1The Chancellor’s Spring Statement 2018 allocated the first wave of funding, £95 million for 13 areas across the UK.
Armagh City, Belfast, Blackpool, Cambridgeshire, Cardiff, Coventry, The Highlands, London, Manchester, Mid Sussex, North Yorkshire, Portsmouth and Wolverhampton were announced as the successful bidders for the £95 million allocation.
FIBRE BLACKPOOL
Co-operative Network Infrastructure, is a cooperative group bringing together public and private sector organisations to create and share new digital infrastructure in and around Blackpool and the Fylde Coast, building on a successful pilot scheme already up and running in Tameside.
The co-operative offers members wholesale access to fibre and exchange point facilities allowing them to build and operate advanced digital connectivity services. Public sector members are using CNI facilities to improve services and save costs, and network builders and investors can use existing fibre spine network to make better use of investment funds and accelerate deployment.
