Ingleton celebrates arrival of superfast broadband

More than 1,000 homes and businesses in the parish can now access fibre broadband

Community representatives from the village of Ingleton have met with the Superfast North Yorkshire team to celebrate the arrival of superfast broadband.

More than 1,000 premises in Ingleton and neighbouring Thornton in Lonsdale now have access to fibre-to-the-cabinet technology (FTTC) – fibre broadband with speeds of up to 80 Mbps. 1 This is more than ten times the maximum speed previously available.

Both villages join more than 21,000 homes and businesses in Craven that now have access to high-speed fibre broadband as a direct result of the Superfast North Yorkshire roll-out.
Cllr Carl Lis, lead member for Working with Communities at Craven District Council, said: “High speed broadband is now seen as an essential rather than a luxury. Broadband numbers are steadily increasing, not least because people see it as a route to jobs and markets. It provides the cornerstone for prosperous communities – helping local people build their skills and knowledge and encouraging the creation of new businesses and jobs, and helping to keep those businesses and jobs in the local community.”

The task to bring fibre to the area involved building one of the longest fibre feeds or ‘spines’ of the Superfast North Yorkshire roll-out to date, initially extending the network from BT’s telephone exchange in Kirkby Lonsdale to Bentham and then further still to Ingleton. More than 10 miles of spine was put in place using some existing and some newly built underground ducts with part of the route requiring traffic management to ensure engineers could work safely.. Engineers had to cross the River Lune and the A65 as well as clear underground blockages using giant vacuums to clear silt and debris washed into the ducts by rainwater.

One person already benefitting from the technology upgrade is self-employed photographer and web designer Mick Kenyon. He has had his superfast service for just over a week, but has already seen a marked impact on his business and website www.mickkenyon.com . He said: “The nature of my job means I spend a lot of time uploading photos and videos online. With my existing broadband it could take hours just to upload one file. That is not great for business when you’re trying to show potential clients examples of your work or trying to share work you’ve done with customers. These days everyone expects everything instantly. With superfast I can upload in minutes rather than hours – which has meant a huge increase in productivity.

“Without superfast I would probably be contemplating setting up an office somewhere else with better connectivity – which would mean a commute costing both time and money. Now I can stay local which means I can buy and shop locally – which is helping to sustain the village, which is good for everyone.”

Councillor Carl Les, chairman of Superfast North Yorkshire, said: “There is no quick and easy way to get superfast broadband to rural areas. It often involves challenges above and beyond those you would encounter in a more urban environment. We are very proud of what has been achieved so far. More than 145,000 homes and businesses in the County have access to faster, better connectivity thanks to Superfast North Yorkshire and we have no intention to stop there. We will continue to work to improve broadband across North Yorkshire. ”

Tom Keeney, BT’s regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, added: “Together, we and Superfast North Yorkshire are creating a lasting legacy, which will play a vital role in the future success and prosperity of North Yorkshire.

“Each week we are bringing the latest broadband technology to some of the most remote corners of the county. This is testament to the hard work of Superfast North Yorkshire and the army of engineers who are making it happen.”

Superfast North Yorkshire, a partnership led by North Yorkshire County Council and BT, is behind the arrival of fibre broadband at more than 145,000 homes and businesses across the county. These are in addition to more than 200,000 properties in North Yorkshire able to access fibre broadband as a result of BT’s £2.5 billion commercial roll-out programme

BT was chosen as the private sector partner in the project following an extensive selection process by the county council. The company is contributing £10 million towards fibre deployment in “non-commercial” areas whilst the county council is using its £17.8 million share of BDUK funds and a further £8.6 million coming from the European Regional Development Fund2. The project is investing an additional £8m in funding to push the deployment of fibre even further with the aim to connect an additional 11,100 homes and businesses across England’s largest rural county with high-speed broadband by 2017.

To help businesses in North Yorkshire take advantage of the faster broadband speeds a support service has been put in place to provide free services such as training workshops, skills master classes and business development events. This will demonstrate how faster broadband connections can help to develop business and increase profits by maximising efficiency and productivity. For more information call 0845 0020021 or email: enquiries@sfny.co.uk.

For further information on the Superfast North Yorkshire programme visitwww.superfastnorthyorkshire.com

1 These are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.

2 The Superfast North Yorkshire project is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 to 2013. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme, which is one of the funds established by the European Commission to help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support local businesses and create jobs.

For more information visit www.communities.gov.uk/erdf

Notes to Editors:
Superfast Britain is a Government investment of £1.08bn in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race. The portfolio comprises three linked programmes:
• £780m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017
• £150m to provide high speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities
• £150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and basic data network services

Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life.
For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk