Member Article

Broadband scheme iNorthumberland hits halfway mark connecting more than 30,000 homes

More than 30,000 homes and businesses in the county can now access fibre broadband thanks to the iNorthumberland partnership.

The multi-million pound scheme is progressing at pace and is expected to reach a total of 34,400 premises by the end of this month.

In January 2014, the Duchess of Northumberland launched the first fibre broadband cabinet to ‘go live’ as Alnmouth became the first area to benefit from the superfast technology thanks to the project.

Now homes and businesses in communities the length and breadth of Northumberland, including Wooler, Felton, Stocksfield and Haltwhistle, can take advantage of the benefits high-speed fibre broadband brings – with speeds of up to 80Mbps.

Engineers from BT’s local network business, Openreach, have laid more than 14,000 kilometres of optical fibre in around 225 kilometres of underground cable.

A total of 35 new exchange areas have been enabled along with the installation of 137 new green fibre cabinets.

Around 126 of those cabinets are now ready to take customer orders with thousands of people already taking advantage of the increased broadband speeds.

A number of areas, including around 1,500 premises in the rural communities of Allendale, Crookham, Harbottle and Wark, now have access to fibre broadband for the first time.

Simon Roberson, BT’s North East regional partnership director, said: “The iNorthumberland programme has made substantial progress since the first fibre cabinet went live back in January this year and it is exciting to hear about the real benefits that people are already experiencing from having this technology. “In the modern world, digital connectivity is the “fourth utility” alongside gas, electricity and water. From children doing their homework to caring for our elderly population and from social media, to e-commerce and home entertainment – fast broadband is the critical enabler.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .