Vtesse News
Hertford. 15th February 2010
Vtesse, the UK’s leading provider of advanced national fibre optic networking services, today announced the deployment of new infrastructure in Hertfordshire designed to demonstrate that super-fast broadband can be viable for residents of “Final Third” communities.
The term “Final Third” was coined in the Government’s recent Digital Britain report to describe one third of the UK population who currently are, for economic reasons, unlikely ever to be able to receive super-fast broadband.
Vtesse is running the pilot in the Hertfordshire communities of Birch Green, Bramfield, Hertingfordbury and Stapleford. Whilst each is close to the county town of Hertford, they are all a considerable distance from their local telephone exchange and none currently has access to super-fast broadband.
The new services are expected to be available in late spring and early summer this year. They will commence in Hertingfordbury and will ultimately provide service for up to 500 properties across the four communities.
These services complement Vtesse Networks pilots in Cornwall and Wiltshire. The Cornish services have been running since November last year. Early feedback provides a good idea of what Hertfordshire users can expect. People who previously endured unreliable connections and painfully slow download speeds (typically below 1 Megabit per second) now enjoy non-stop service and speeds between 33 and 48 Megabits per second.
Results from the pilot will be used by Vtesse Networks to support applications for grants from the Government’s 2Mbps Universal Service Commitment Fund, and also from the Next Generation Broadband Fund announced in the recent Pre Budget Report.
Mark Prisk, Conservative Member of Parliament for Hertford and Stortford and Shadow Minister for Business commented “Broadband is vital to local villages, so this scheme for Hertingfordbury by local firm Vtesse Networks is great news”
Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse Networks added: “We are delighted to be able to bring super-fast broadband to communities in our home town of Hertford that may never otherwise have received them. The Government’s Digital Britain report clearly identified that one third of the population are in the same situation as those in Birch Green, Bramfield, Hertingfordbury and Stapleford. We aim to progress the regulatory change and Government support required to support business cases that will make delivery of Vtesse Networks fast broadband possible to poorly served broadband communities everywhere.”
Anyone who would like to be considered for the Hertfordshire pilot can register interest and get further information by emailing hertfordshire@vtesse.com .
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Notes to editors:
1. Super-fast broadband is defined as more than ten times the Government’s 2012 universal service pledge speed of 2Mbps. Full screen internet TV, online movies, high definition iPlayer and similar catch-up TV services, YouTube, interactive training and video conferencing services all benefit from super-fast broadband.
2. Contrary to popular opinion, the “Final Third” of the population are not only in rural areas. There are broadband “not-spots” and “slow-spots” spread around the country, in urban as well as rural areas. The “Final Third” comprises anyone on long telephone lines outside current cable TV footprints. These residents are unlikely to be able to benefit from even the basic service promised by the 2Mbits/second 2012 universal service commitment unless something is done to address regulatory, rating and commercial issues.