Newcastle joins superfast cities switch-on

Newcastle joins superfast cities switch-on

Newcastle upon Tyne has joined the ranks of the UK’s superfast digital cities after its first superfast fibre broadband cabinet was switched on.

The new equipment means around 1,400 domestic and business broadband users will now be able to access speeds of up to 80Mbps.

The target is to bring high speed fibre broadband to around 97 per cent of users in the city by next summer as part of the Go Digital Newcastle project. The scheme has funding of £3.8 million, made up of money from the Government, Newcastle City Council and BT.

The programme also includes a voucher scheme aimed at bringing small businesses, charities and social enterprises in the area up to speed. They can apply for vouchers worth up to £3,000 to help them access faster broadband, V3 reported.

Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said: “We understand how important access to superfast broadband is – the UK already does more business online than any other European country, and the widespread access to superfast broadband that this scheme will deliver will provide a tremendous boost to the Newcastle economy.”

The first cabinet will serve the Walker, Byker, Cochrane Park, Manor Park, Elswick, South Benwell and Fenham areas of the city with superfast broadband. The switch-on was performed by children from Walker Technology College in a special ceremony to mark the first step of Go Digital Newcastle going live.

The project will also bring superfast broadband to the city centre, Gosforth, Jesmond, the west of the city as well as the suburbs of Lemington and Wideopen over the next year.

The Government is putting up funding for a number of cities to help access superfast fibre broadband. They also include Birmingham and Bristol.

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