Businesses beat the Christmas rush with better broadband
With unprecedented levels of investment into digital infrastructure across Cumbria of over £400m between commercial and public funded programmes, there has never been a better time for businesses to check the upgrade options available to them in order to reap the benefits of improved connectivity.
More than 95 per cent of homes and businesses across the county can now access superfast broadband speeds of above 30Mbps with 62 per cent now able to access gigabit speeds.
There are also opportunities to use greater mobile connectivity around the county with current outdoor 4G geographic coverage levels standing at over 91 per cent from at least one mobile provider and 65 per cent from all four major UK network providers.
Peter Thornton, Digital Champion for Digital Infrastructure, Westmorland and Furness, said: “There is a lot going on to connect homes and businesses across Westmorland and Furness at the moment! A huge amount of progress has been made in improving digital connectivity and this work is only going to continue as we try to make sure that no one is left behind.
“Christmas time really highlights the need for businesses to be able to access the online services and tools available to them to ensure their business runs efficiently. We are home to so many great businesses who are offering an array of festive gifts and services, getting online really helps them in terms of reaching their target audience and reaping the benefits of extra bookings and sales.”
The Fell Foodie Harrison Ward, outdoor cook, author, mental health speaker and TV personality said: “Access to online services has become increasingly important in today’s world. I think we all take for granted just how much it offers.
“Social media has been such an important tool for me personally. The benefits, I believe however do stretch further in terms of combating isolation, providing a support mechanism to those who need it and bringing likeminded people together. Christmas time perhaps emphasises these benefits providing a lifeline to those who really need it.
“We can’t hide from it, being online is a must in this day and age. We all have a reason for it whether that be for work, rest, play or emergencies. I love the outdoors and everything it offers but we still need to be and feel connected. Services are available across our county and can support you in so many ways.”
Cllr Chris Southward, Cumberland Council’s Cabinet Member for Digital Connectivity and Customer Focus and Digital Champion said: “A huge amount of progress has been made in improving digital connectivity across the Cumberland area and it is great to see so many businesses and residents now reaping the benefits this brings.”
“This is an exciting time in terms of the work being carried out to further improve connectivity and I would encourage everyone to check if they can improve the service to their premise and experience for themselves the difference it can make”.
Aspatria based Gift and Stitch founder Dawn Richardson said: “Having a fast and reliable internet connection is an essential.”
“Our reliance on our fixed line broadband service has increased hugely over the past few years and we need it now more than ever to support what we do and work in an effective and efficient way.”
“The Christmas rush is starting to really ramp up and having the confidence in my service to know it can deal with the increase in consumer demand and not let me down in terms of capturing and fulfilling orders is priceless.”
“I would definitely encourage other businesses to check if they can upgrade to a gigabit service. Christmas time, more than any other, highlights the need to be able to showcase what local Cumbria businesses have to offer. Having an online presence means you are accessible to a much wider customer base as well as providing a ‘shop local’ option which I think people really like.”
The push to improve connectivity continues across Cumbria with the Connecting Cumbria team focusing on:
- Supporting the UK Government Project Gigabit contract awarded to Fibrus, who will be providing wholesale services on the publicly funded infrastructure under the brand Hyperfast GB to up to 60,000 properties across Cumbria by 2026.
- Monitoring and encouraging commercial delivery of gigabit broadband in Cumbria. Through a combination of commercial deployments, based upon currently announced plans and the Project Gigabit delivery, we anticipate that gigabit coverage in Cumbria could exceed 99 per cent of properties by 2026.
- Supporting communities to deliver voucher funded projects to provide gigabit capable broadband to areas where Commercial coverage or Project Gigabit won’t reach. Connecting Cumbria provides additional ‘top-up’ funding to properties that currently have broadband speeds of less than 30Mbps download.
- Working with UK Government to help develop policies for ‘Very Hard To Reach’ properties, typically in very rural areas that can struggle with the worst broadband speeds.
- Monitoring and encouraging investment to improve 4G connectivity in Cumbria. This includes supporting the UK Government Shared Rural Network mobile infrastructure programme which is seeking to deliver 95 per cent geographical 4G coverage in the UK from at least one Mobile Network Operator by 2025 and 84 per cent from all four.
- Supporting investment into digital projects through the Borderlands Partnership which has been established to unlock the potential for sustainable and inclusive economic growth across the South of Scotland and the North of England. This includes the delivery of the Borderlands 5G Innovation Region programme which is one of only ten 5G Innovation Regions across the UK to share in a £36 million fund from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.