Tens of thousands of homes and businesses have benefited from superfast broadband links through the first scheme of its kind in the country which has seen millions of pounds of extra funding invested due to the scheme’s success.
More than 200,000 households and businesses have been given vastly improved internet connections in the ambitious project which was overseen by us and has seen in excess of £100 million invested in superfast broadband links during the past decade.
The project has been instrumental in addressing the digital divide, with many rural communities previously unable to access superfast broadband connections that have been available in towns and cities.
A report which is due to be considered by our executive details how an innovative partnership with BT has helped pump more public money back into improving internet connections to even more premises due to the success of the scheme.
Public subsidies of more than £27.5 million have been paid back to date to us by BT after it emerged that there was a sufficient commercially viable demand for the project.
Council leader, Cllr Carl Les, is also a board member for the NYnet broadband company which is owned by the local authority and has managed the Superfast North Yorkshire programme.
He said: “The success of the superfast broadband project in North Yorkshire has transformed people’s lives. As a council we took the decision that this work was vital for our communities, and we have now seen how much this pioneering move has paid off.
“We have heard from our residents who told us that they were considering moving house to where broadband connections were better, but the project has now allowed them to remain in their home.
“We have benefited tremendously from the provision in the contract where the public subsidies have been paid back to us, and this has been a first of its kind in England for a scheme sponsored by the Government’s agency, Building Digital UK.
“The project has allowed us to lead the way in bringing state-of-the-art broadband links to often deeply rural locations, benefiting both homes and businesses.”
The fourth and final element of the pioneering Superfast North Yorkshire project has come to an end, with the vast majority of properties in the county now on the superfast broadband network.
A company called NYnet 100 was created to oversee the project and the procurement of broadband providers to introduce the improved connections.
Members of the executive will be asked when they meet on Tuesday next week (15 July) to wind up the company now that our superfast broadband project has come to an end.
Among those who have benefited from the introduction of superfast broadband is Joanne Nicholson and her husband, Sean, along with their two sons, Jacob, aged 13, and 10-year-old Rufus.
The family lives on a 300-acre dairy farm in the hamlet of Dallowgill to the west of Ripon, and run a glamping business, called Little Seed Field, which was launched eight years ago as part of a move to diversify the business.
However, poor internet links meant that the new venture could not compete as effectively as Joanne and Sean Nicholson had hoped, with online bookings often lost because of the lack of broadband connectivity.
The dramatically improved internet links were introduced by Openreach in the summer of 2021 and have transformed the family’s day-to-day lives.
Joanne said: “We were in a pretty dire situation before as online payments couldn’t really be taken and people were having trouble trying to book a stay via the internet.
“We chose to live here in the countryside when we took over running the farm from Sean’s parents, but we didn’t want to be stuck in the dark ages.
“The superfast broadband has been such a welcome addition not just for us, but for the whole of the hamlet too. It’s helping us to develop the business, and we now have a licence for civil ceremonies to be held here.
“It also made a big difference for us as a family as we are now able to do online shopping and sit down together to watch a film that’s being streamed online. It really has improved our lives so much.”
The Government is now overseeing the national Project Gigabit programme, with £5 billion in funding for the roll-out of gigabit broadband to the hardest to reach premises in the country. This equates to about five million properties, mostly in rural areas.
Councillor Les has called on the Government to ensure that the remaining 11,000 properties in the county without decent internet connections are linked to superfast broadband networks.
He said: “We want to make sure that all our communities benefit from the very best internet connections and ensuring that the local economy can continue to grow and flourish.
“NYnet will continue to be instrumental in continuing the work to deliver improved broadband for the public sector and businesses across the county, but we also need the Government’s commitment to ensure all homes are given the best connections possible.”
During the Superfast North Yorkshire project, more than £100 million was invested from a combination of sources.
Grants have been obtained from Building Digital UK which is part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the European Regional Development Fund, the European Structural and Investment Funds, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development operated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Openreach and Quickline.