Northern Lincolnshire's plans for surperfast broadband take a leap forward

THE Government has approved North and North East Lincolnshire Councils’ plan to get 90 per cent of their businesses and residents on superfast broadband. This is a major breakthrough which means that the councils can now start looking for a partner to deliver it.

But first, the councils must prove to potential suppliers that there is demand for superfast broadband. They urgently need 5,000 residents and 500 businesses across Northern Lincolnshire to complete a survey. Without this happening, the project could be in jeopardy.

So far, over 1,200 residents and 170 business have responded – so take part in the survey to help the cause.

For residents, the online survey can be found at: www.northernlincsbroadband.info/rs

For businesses, the survey is at: www.northernlincsbroadband.info/bs

The local broadband plan demonstrates how the councils will bring the next generation of broadband to Northern Lincolnshire. This could see 90 per cent of homes receiving superfast broadband connection speeds of at least 24Mb/second by 2015, with others guaranteed at least 2Mb/per second.

A spokesman for the councils said: "Faster broadband will have a beneficial impact on our region's economic growth, as it will help businesses to expand and grow. Also, it will be easier to entice new businesses and jobs to the area if we have better broadband connections.

"There’s still a long way to go, but it is great news that the Government has approved the plan. It moves the project a step closer to reality and means we can now start the procurement process to find a suitable supplier."

If you would like to be part of a case study demonstrating how poor broadband currently hampers your business, please contact Yvonne Thompson by calling (01724) 296926 or email Yvonne@northernlincsbroadband.info .

More information can be found at www.northernlincsbroadband.info .