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Northumberland Broadband Project
GreySky is working with the Leader programme in Northumberland to solve the problem of broadband in the rural Uplands area. Funding has been secured and the project is now seeking to identify an infrastructure and service provider to deliver broadband in Northumberland.
Latest news...
State aid approval has now been granted and the project can now continue. Delivery is now expected early in 2012.
A big problem
Although over 96% of businesses and individuals in Northumberland can get broadband, only 82% in the Uplands area have broadband access. The area includes an estimated 2,300 lines that are too long for conventional ADSL broadband delivery.
In addition to having large numbers of lines with no broadband access, the maximum speed of ADSL broadband available is 8 Mbps. There are no areas with access to the high speed services becoming available in more urban areas.
A supplier is sought who can help to address the problems of low speed and poor access that currently apply in the Uplands area.
The Uplands area covers the western part of Northumberland. There are problems of broadband access throughout this area. However, three priority areas have been identified where there are particular problems. In addition there are a number of specific locations where access is sought.
Objectives
The principal goal of the project is to improve the broadband services available in the Northumberland Uplands area. The following objectives have been identified:
- Providing access to reliable broadband (at 2 Mbps or faster) to as many sites as possible in the Northumberland Uplands area who currently do not have access.
- Providing high speed exemplar broadband service (20 Mbps or higher) to at least one key market town location (Rothbury, Wooler, Bellingham).
- Creating high profile tourism specific Wi-
Fi enabled areas at Alwinton and Falstone.
Services
The aim of the project is to provide services in rural Northumberland similar to
those available in more rural areas. This means that a wide range of ISPs should
be available, including the popular nationally available services and free services.
The services should be available at normal market prices (the same as in towns)
to encourage take-
Demand and support
There is considerable support for the provision of reliable broadband services in
Northumberland. However, the actual demand for service cannot be guaranteed. Training
in the use of the internet will be provided for small and micro businesses in the
area. This is seen as an important element in stimulating demand. A programme of
one-
These workshops will be delivered by GreySky Consulting and are separate from the infrastructure project.
Delivery
Proposals were received from potential suppliers and evaluated in mid 2010. A preferred supplier was identified, however, further progress required State aid approval. This required the project to stop until approval was granted.
State aid approval was finally given on 25th November 2011. This now allows the final details of the contract to be resolved, and it is hoped that the project will begin final delivery first thing in the new year.
Details of the procurement undertaken for the project can be found here...
Last updated 25/11/2011
|
Area |
Total estimated lines |
Estimated problem lines |
|
Northumberland Uplands overall |
16,000 |
2,300 |
|
Priority area 1 (Rothbury Moor) |
235 |
120 |
|
Priority area 2 (Cheviot) |
639 |
380 |
|
Priority area 3 (Tyne Dale) |
500 |
260 |
