£2m deal to bring broadband update to thousands

IT support service provider ACS has won a contract, which could be worth more than £2m, to bring high-speed broadband to homes and businesses across South Yorkshire.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Nov 2010, 15:09 BST
Updated 11th Nov 2010, 15:09 BST

The Doncaster firm said it will deliver the superfast broadband with 40MB download to more than 500,000 homes, 40,000 businesses and public sector services over a 12-month contract to the publicly funded scheme.

ACS will use a mix of technology, including fibre-optic, wireless and satellite connections in place of the current system, providing higher bandwidth than is currently available.

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Mike McEwen, director, said: "ACS's track record of delivering large-scale IT networks and communications projects to 200 local schools and more than 600 businesses means we are best placed to provide this next generation broadband. It will completely transform the area's communications.

"The majority of homes, businesses and schools in South Yorkshire will benefit enormously and this will place the region at the forefront of technological change."

Digital Region is a ground-breaking scheme to bring super-fast internet speeds of at least 25mb/s to 1.3 million people or 97 per cent of the region by mid-2012, offering benefits such as high-quality video streaming and conferencing and the ability to download films and music in seconds.

George Taylor, founding partner and chief executive of South Yorkshire Digital Region, said: "We have an extremely powerful capability available exclusively to South Yorkshire, now we need to take advantage of it.

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"The impact of this rollout will be far reaching – not only will it increase access to a whole range of business, education and public sector services, it will generate new job opportunities for the region."

Dan Fell, head of policy at Doncaster Chamber of Commerce, said: "Partnerships like this will help businesses to cut costs, create new products and services, exchange significantly larger amounts of information, and, in some cases, completely change the way they operate."

The digital scheme, which will involve laying nearly 500 miles of fibre-optic cables under South Yorkshire, is being funded by European money plus loans and grants from all four South Yorkshire councils.

According to the regulator, Ofcom, the roll-out of super-fast broadband marks one of the most fundamental changes to the UK's telecoms networks.

Related topics:South YorkshireDoncaster