Telecoms group makes pledge to bridge gap in digital market

Hessle-based MS3 Communications has signed an agreement with the Humber Bridge Board that allows it to provide a link to Hull and the East Riding from its commercial network partners on the south bank.

It says this will allow to reach business customers in Hessle, West Hull and the city centre throughout the first quarter of next year.

The move, which has been welcomed by a senior city councillor, is the latest development in a rapidly-changing digital market which is expected to bring significant improvements in coverage and internet speeds across East Yorkshire during the next few years.

MS3 Communications said it intended to offer the first network in Hull that would be independent of city-based telecoms giant KC, which has enjoyed unrivalled market dominance for years.

Network and operations director Mike Harlington said: “We have been working on this agreement for almost a year and I am delighted we’ve finally got the green light to press on.

“We have always wanted to give the people of Hull a choice and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Hull Council’s portfolio holder for finance, Coun Phil Webster, added: “I am highly delighted that MS3 will be opening up the market place in the city, as part of the council’s commitment to attracting business to the city through the new enterprise zones, superfast broadband was always high on the city’s list of priorities to make Hull attractive to investors in new technologies.”

The initial cost of building the network is £5m, although this is expected to rise to £12m within the first year, the company said.

KC is also overhauling some of its infrastructure and has embarked on a steady roll-out of superfast broadband to communities in the East Riding and Hull.

KC’s hi-tech network – which will reach 15,000 homes by the end of next year – was launched in Woodmansey in September and has been installed in the Great Thornton Street area of Hull city centre and Weel on the outskirts of Beverley. Further installations will take place in Swine and Benningholme with other announcements expected shortly.

KC said the roll-out of fibre-optic cables to replace its copper network will by the end of next year allow 15,000 homes in East Yorkshire to benefit from broadband speeds 10 times faster than currently available.

East Riding Council is meanwhile working on a Local Broadband Plan that is due to be put to public consultation in April.

It will attempt to set a framework for providing broadband to one of the areas with the worst coverage in the country, although many rural areas are in a similar position.

An infrastructure report in August by industry regulator Ofcom listed superfast availability in both Hull and the East Riding as “zero” per cent, although Hull Council claims that three-quarters of its residents will have access to superfast broadband through KC in the “coming months”.

This lamentable figure compared to an England average of 61 per cent and a UK average of 58 per cent, although the picture among other regional local authorities varied.

The superfast availability in North-East Lincolnshire was listed as 90 per cent, compared with 59 per cent in York and 15 per cent in North Yorkshire.

In response to a national increase in demand for broadband, the Government has allocated £530m to improve coverage that will be distributed by a national body, Broadband Delivery UK.

A provisional £8.5m of this has been allocated to the Humber region, although this only represents 50 per cent of the funding needed to fill gaps in provision not expected to be met by the private sector.

[email protected]