Businesses in line for boost from Connecting Shropshire
Battlefield Enterprise Park becomes first in the county to start to benefit from £24.6m partnership between Shropshire Council and BT
Businesses invited to event to gain insight into benefits of fibre broadband
Firms at a business park on the outskirts of Shrewsbury are the latest to reap the benefits of the multi-million pound rollout of high-speed fibre broadband by Connecting Shropshire.
Battlefield Enterprise Park in Harlescott has become the first business park in the county to start benefitting from the partnership between Shropshire Council and BT.
Today (Tuesday 14 January 2014) saw the ‘switch on’ of four new fibre broadband roadside cabinets in the Harlescott area, with others to follow serving in total around 3,500 homes and businesses in the Harlescott area.
Engineers will complete the upgrade works that will serve most businesses on the Battlefield Enterprise Park over the coming weeks.
When an area has ‘gone live’, businesses and residents can order fibre broadband from a wide range of Internet service providers, as the network is open to all providers on an open, wholesale basis, thereby ensuring competitive prices. They will be able to enjoy download speeds of up to 80 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps*.
To coincide with this latest development, Connecting Shropshire has organised a free drop-in session specifically tailored towards helping local businesses wanting to know more about how they might benefit from the new technology.
It’s being held at Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre in Vanguard Way, Battlefield Enterprise Park, SY1 3TG, on Wednesday 29 January 2014, from 12 midday until 6.30pm, with advisers from Connecting Shropshire and Shropshire Council’s business and enterprise team on hand throughout. Any local business is welcome to attend.
More information about the rollout of fibre broadband is available from the Connecting Shropshire website: www.connectingshropshire.co.uk.
Connecting Shropshire is a partnership between Shropshire Council, BT and Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) that will enable more than 62,000 homes and businesses in Shropshire (excluding Telford and Wrekin) to access faster broadband by the end of spring 2016.
It builds on BT’s own commercial rollout, which will bring fibre broadband to more than 123,000 homes and businesses across the county by the end of spring 2014. The combined investment programmes will mean 93 per cent of homes and businesses in the Shropshire Council area will have access to fibre broadband by the end of spring 2016.
Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for broadband, said:
“I’m really happy to see the first roadside cabinet to provide fibre-based broadband to a business park. Connecting Shropshire is starting to provide access to fibre broadband in a number of communities which would not have benefitted without the intervention of the council. I’m especially keen to see local businesses embrace faster broadband to boost their productivity and long-term sustainability.”
Ian Binks, BT’s regional manager for Shropshire and the West Midlands, said:
“Increasingly we’re seeing how the Internet is impacting on almost every aspect of our lives. That’s why the availability of faster fibre broadband is so important.
“High-speed broadband enables everyone to do things faster and more effectively, recent research demonstrates that up to six out of 10 small businesses can grow faster as a result of better connectivity, while 83 per cent can save time and money. Evidence also shows that jobs can be safeguarded and created with a high speed broadband connection.”
Nick Chavasse MBE, Shropshire Business Board champion for broadband, added:
“It’s good news for the local economy that Connecting Shropshire is starting to provide access to fibre-based broadband for businesses in the Harlescott area of Shrewsbury. Battlefield Industrial Estate and Enterprise Park is the largest concentration of businesses in the Shropshire Council area. Fast and reliable broadband connectivity helps businesses to work smarter in a number of ways, including communicating better and exploiting new market opportunities.”
Further information
*These are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.
Contact
For further information about this news release please contact: Emma Tennant at the BT Regional press office on 0800 085 0660 or email: emma.tennant@btcom (All BT news releases can be read at www.bt.com/newscentre) or
Callum McLagan at ThreeSixtyCommunications on 01743 255939 or email callum.mclagan@shropshire.gov.uk. (All Shropshire Council news stories can be read at http://shropshire.gov.uk/news/ )
Connecting Shropshire programme website: http://connectingshropshire.co.uk/
About Connecting Shropshire
Connecting Shropshire is the name given to the programme bringing fibre-based broadband to areas where it isn’t economically viable for commercial companies to provide it. It is a partnership between Shropshire Council, BT and Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) that will enable more than 62,000 homes and businesses in Shropshire (excluding Telford and Wrekin) to access faster broadband by the end of Spring 2016.
When added to BT’s commercial rollout, 93 per cent of premises in the Shropshire Council area will have access to fibre based broadband by the end of Spring 2016. All premises in the programme area will be provided with access to a basic level of broadband (a minimum of 2mbps).
About BT
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and Internet products and services; and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Retail, BT Wholesale and Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 2013, BT Group’s reported revenue was £18,103m with reported profit before taxation of £2,315m.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.
For more information, visit www.btplc.com.
Superfast Britain is a Government programme of investment 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 is comprised of three elements:
- £780m to extend superfast broadband to 95 per cent 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.
About the Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre (The SFEC)
The Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre is one of only 10 food and drink incubators throughout the UK. The centre comprises 12 purpose-built production units totalling 24,000 sq ft (2,224 m2) and 4,000 sq ft (371 m2) of offices, conference and meeting facilities with a café. The offices, production units and the café are available to rent please contact 01743 281081 for further information or follow this link to the Centre’s own web site: www.shropshirefoodcentre.co.uk.
