Open access broadband picks up speed
NYnet, public-private partnership based in Yorkshire, UK, hopes to overcome the challenge posed by rural and coastal areas in the area of broadband and connectivity. The project represents Europe's largest public-sector led, open-access, broadband infrastructure initiative. Now, a Wetherby telecommunications company has been selected as a partner as part of a major initiative to deliver super-fast broadband services to businesses in North Yorkshire. This will offer a major boost to regional SMEs. Rural regions across Europe seem to face similar challenges: capital cities always seem to soak up the technological advances well before they have a chance to spread further. The rural communities of North Yorkshire in England are no different. Many towns have little or no access to high-speed broadband. NYnet was established to change that. It provides higher-quality and faster broadband to the public sector and will also hopefully improve services for public organisations such as schools, universities and council offices across the whole of North Yorkshire. NYnet is an EU-funded collaboration between North Yorkshire County Council and Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber economy. Its aim is to create a world-class, high-speed communications infrastructure capable of delivering multiple high-quality services to both homes and organisations in the county. So important is the project that the Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary and MP for Richmond, William Hague, has given a public statement of support to Yorkshire's NYnet project. 'In today's society the Internet has become indispensible, especially in business. Before the creation of NYnet, internet service providers deemed it too expensive to provide next-generation internet services in North Yorkshire. However, NYnet has established a new, high-quality telecommunications network previously unavailable in the region. It aims to assist in the provision of affordable, high-speed, next-generation internet access to homes and businesses which will benefit the region both economically and socially.' NYnet views the partnership with the Wetherby telecommunications company as a major step forward. David Cullen, CEO of NYnet, commented: 'NYnet is very excited about working with a channel partner such as Excel Telecom because they provide the business-to-business services which are much needed for the largely underserved SME market in North Yorkshire. NYnet offers such partners better, faster and cheaper connectivity, which means Excel is better able to provide cost-effective, next-generation technology solutions that deliver real benefits to businesses. Through this initiative, NYnet, Excel and the businesses served can jointly make a truly positive impact on the economic development of the sub-region.' Excel Telecom will support the NYnet project, which has recently installed a fibre-optic network infrastructure throughout the county, by providing the technology that will integrate the new service into business premises. This partnership forms part of Excel Telecom's wider strategy of delivering next-generation broadband and telephony services throughout North Yorkshire. The collaboration of public sector and private enterprise in this venture creates a major opportunity to meet the challenge of ensuring a socially inclusive approach to all North Yorkshire citizens as both businesses and public sector move towards more digital services. By partnering with carefully selected commercial organisations, the NYnet core network will offer public sector bodies in North Yorkshire an early opportunity to deliver sophisticated broadband solutions both to employees and citizens.
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