Hundreds of Black Country businesses benefiting from high speed broadband
AN additional 20,000 homes and businesses in the Black Country have been provided with access to high-speed fibre broadband.
Areas of Aldridge, Bearwood, Cradley Heath, Greets Green and Lyng, Halesowen, Kingswinford, Leamore, Penn, Pleck, Smethwick, Soho and Victoria, and West Bromwich are among the latest communities to benefit from the installation work, which is being carried out by the Black Country Broadband Project and its lead partners – Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and BT Openreach.
One of the organisations to benefit is Beacon Centre for the Blind, in Sedgley, which is using fibre broadband to expand its online services.
Nick Comley, head of social finance & business development at the centre, said: “High-speed broadband has made it possible for Beacon to provide employment support for people with visual impairment, particularly in digital technology and software solutions, as well as to access online advice, information and guidance relating to sight loss prevention and conditions through a network of community located digital kiosks.
“In addition, it’s made it easier for people with sight loss to connect with family and friends through video streaming and email and through the digital distribution of the Black Country Talking News.”
As part of the roll-out, engineers have installed more than 190 fibre broadband road-side cabinets, which are needed to enable local premises to connect to the new network.
Ninder Johal, chair of the Black Country Broadband Group and a board member of the LEP, said: “A superfast internet connection can make a world of difference to businesses and homes. For businesses superfast broadband can help organisations to become more efficient, cheaper to run and easier to develop improving competitiveness both in the UK and overseas, bringing a real boost to the local economy.
“Reaching the 20,000 milestone is a huge step in delivering our ambition of a minimum of 98% high-speed fibre broadband availability across the Black County by the end of 2017.”
