Digital Region, the project to provide next generation broadband to South Yorkshire, has announced the going live of their network at their newly launched network operation centre. The network, being built and managed by Thales UK, is funded from European, regional, local and private investment and will see £112m being spent to provide 546,000 homes and 40,000 businesses (a total of 97% of premises) with guaranteed broadband speeds of 25Mbps. It will cover the city towns and villages of Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham. A postcode checker is available so those in the area can find out when service should be available from.
"The launch of the Network Operations Centre is a very significant milestone in delivering 'Superfast Broadband' across South Yorkshire. This is a truly groundbreaking project that will provide a major boost to South Yorkshire's economy, encouraging inward investment and providing a wealth of opportunities for businesses, local residents and public sector organisations."
David Holt, CEO, Digital Region
The network is expected to be completed in May 2012, with the first residents or businesses able to connect in early 2010. The network is an open network which means ISPs can sign up to provide services over it in a similar way to how they do over BT's network.
go Yorkshire! excellent that one county is getting IT. Power to the People.