Airband wins two multi-million pound contracts in a week

WORCESTERSHIRE-based internet service provider Airband has won two major contracts which will we see its Midlands network expand across Wales and the West Country.

The first contract for the Cymru Infill project is purely targeting business parks across north and south Wales and is to be completed by June 2017.

The second contract is for Devon and Somerset’s national parks. The Connecting Devon and Somerset project will be rolled out to rural communities across Exmoor and Dartmoor throughout 2016, targeting both business and residential customers.

Established six years ago in the UK, the family run, wireless broadband provider specialises in delivering broadband to rural communities that mainstream providers are unable or unwilling to reach.

With recent estimates indicating that up to 10% of the UK is still lumbered with painfully slow internet speeds, Airband has carved a niche for itself in this predominantly rural ‘hard to reach’ market, where the cost of laying the fibre or copper cables to link up with broadband services is deemed too great by mainstream providers.

Airband is now undergoing a recruitment drive to help boost its administration and technical engineering teams in order to deliver the contracts.

Redmond Peel, founding partner at Airband said: “2015 has already been a hugely successful year for Airband.

“The need for improved broadband for rural communities has been creeping up the political agenda and local authorities have been taking the opportunities provided by Broadband Development UK (BDUK) to improve their internet networks to benefit all areas, not just those within reach of the mainstream providers.

“Although we have been successfully working with councils across the Midlands for a number of years, to have secured these two major contracts, well outside our normal geographical reach is a real game changer for us, double our annual turnover and considerably grow our network.”