The next phase of North Yorkshire’s investment to bring even wider superfast broadband coverage to remote areas of the county is expected to move forward this month with the awarding of a contract for the work.
This will be Phase 4 of a North Yorkshire County Council project that has already seen access to high-quality broadband delivered to around 92 per cent of homes and businesses in the county. The new phase could increase that figure to as much as 97 per cent.
The County Council’s Executive will be asked on Tuesday (13 October) to give authority for the awarding of the contract for the work and to approve funding of £12.5m for Phase 4 of the Superfast North Yorkshire project. The contract will deliver Next Generation Access (NGA) to thousands of additional premises across the county where this technology is not yet available.
Cllr Don Mackenzie, Executive Member for Access, said:
Access to high-quality broadband is essential to all aspects of modern life across North Yorkshire, from helping our businesses to flourish, to education, health and the routines of everyday life.
Right now, this is more relevant than ever as more of us need to work, access services or simply keep in touch remotely as we deal with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The County Council has always been at the forefront of investing in high-quality broadband, resulting in access being available to the vast majority of residents and businesses in the county. Now we are striving to bring this infrastructure to the remotest areas.
This new phase will build on our understanding of the needs of residents and businesses at a local level in some of these remote locations, bringing critical broadband infrastructure to these communities.
It will give people the ability to use existing and future services, such as social, medical and remote care facilities, allowing greater independence as well as enabling communities and businesses to connect and remain competitive, sustainable and prosperous.
The Superfast North Yorkshire project is managed on behalf of the County Council by NYnet, a company set up by the council. Visit the Superfast North Yorkshire website at superfastnorthyorkshire.com for more information.
