News: Digital Region is the next generation

The Communications Consumer Panel has produced a report on local initiatives on next generation broadband access in the UK which gives an update on South Yorkshire's Digital Region. The ambitious project is one of the largest public sector led broadband infrastructure initiatives in the world. It will cover Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham offering a population of 1.3 million citizens, 546,000 homes and 40,000 businesses potential broadband speeds of 50mbps. Following a European Union procurement process, Thales Communication Services Ltd has been selected as the provider for the project which will use fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) across the region. The report states that the Network Operating Centre (NOC) will be in Doncaster and a three-year build programme commencing early in 2009 will see the first services being offered in the second half of 2009. The network will use 12km of fibre, of which 700m will be new as the majority will be existing dark fibre or private circuits. Funding for the project will use European external funding (ERDF) and "buy-in" from the local authorities. The business case is based on 20% take-up, with the contract being a 10+5 years. Thales expect to see a return on investment by years seven and eight.
Digital Region website

Communications Consumer Panel paper

Rotherham