Category: News

Digital+ Seminars Launched

Our latest business support package is now live called Digital+, and the first seminars will take place during November.

Could your business benefit from an intensive free ‘Unlock the Future’ masterclass on how best to integrate your digital marketing and communication?

For more details on the 3 masterclasses taking place in Chester, Nantwich and Warrington, see more here

For more on the Digital+ and Digital 2020 project see our recent media release here.

Notes to editors:

Connecting Cheshire

The project is receiving £960,000 funding from Connecting Cheshire, and will oversee a business contribution of £140,000 as part of a 20 per cent contribution to the broadband connection voucher scheme included in Digital 2020.

For more information visit www.connectingcheshire.org.uk

European Regional Development Fund

The project is receiving £3.61m of funding from the England Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the managing authority for the ERDF. Established by the European Union, the ERDF helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visithttps://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

Broadband Delivery UK

The project has been allocated £2.54m of funding from Broadband Delivery UK, (BDUK), part of the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. BDUK is delivering superfast broadband and local full-fibre networks to the nation. The government is supporting investment to:

  • Provide superfast broadband coverage to 95 per cent of the UK by December 2017;
  • Provide access to basic broadband (2Mbps) for all; and
  • Stimulate private investment in full fibre connections by 2021

For further information, visit: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk

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Broadband boost for Cholmondeley thanks to Connecting Cheshire

Around 380 households and businesses in Cholmondeley now have access to high-speed fibre broadband, thanks to Connecting Cheshire.

Local MP, Antoinette Sandbach joined residents and local Wrenbury Councillor Stan Davies, to celebrate the latest fibre cabinet switch-on in Bickerton Road.

Four new roadside fibre cabinets have been installed by Openreach, the business responsible for the majority of the UK’s local phone and broadband network, in the area in total by Connecting Cheshire, a partnership between Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East, Halton and Warrington Borough Councils, BT and central Government with additional funding from the European Regional Development Fund.

Connecting Cheshire is managed by Cheshire East Council’s ‘arms-length’ Skills and Growth Company.

Antoinette Sandbach, MP for Eddisbury, said: “Residents in rural areas often feel that they are missing out on superfast so it is great to see this expansion of superfast in Cholmondeley. I look forward to BT reaching other rural areas in the constituency.”

Cllr George Hayes, chairman of the Skills and Growth Company, said: “I am delighted to see more rural areas being reached by the Connecting Cheshire project, to date we have reached over 96,000 premises with fibre; bringing superfast speeds to around 94% of homes and businesses.”

Matthew Hemmings, Openreach’s regional director for the North, said: “High speed fibre broadband helps to ensure that businesses thrive and don’t just survive, and it helps to keep communities connected. Whatever you do online you can do it better with fibre broadband.

“Across Cheshire, Openreach has made fibre available to tens of thousands of local households and businesses through its own commercial programme and its investment in Connecting Cheshire.

“People and businesses in Cheshire East are increasingly taking the great opportunities that this transforming technology offers and our engineers have worked closely with the local authority to make those opportunities as widely available as possible.”

To check availability in your area you can visit the Connecting Cheshire website and enter a postcode or a telephone number - www.connectingcheshire.org.uk/check-availability

Connection to fibre broadband does not happen automatically and people must contact their service provider – there are more than 140 of them offering fibre broadband services across the UK – to place an order.

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Connecting Cheshire secures £7.25m to extend broadband roll-out

The investment – to be implemented over the next three years - is the fourth phase of the ‘Connecting Cheshire’ project and will target rural areas in Cheshire and Warrington, where broadband speeds remain low and where it has not been commercially viable to invest previously.

Called ‘Digital 2020’, the project will focus on reaching premises in rural broadband black spots, a digital business support package to enable small businesses to exploit digital technologies such as e-commerce, cloud computing and a broadband connection voucher scheme for businesses.

Funding will come mainly from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and government sources, as well as from Connecting Cheshire and businesses.

To date, the Connecting Cheshire project has reached more than 97,000 premises with faster speeds and has switched-on more than 600 new roadside fibre broadband cabinets. The project has also been successful in driving take-up of the faster speeds by homes and businesses and will soon reach 50 per cent, one of the highest in the country.

The Digital 2020 project is a partnership of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester and Warrington Borough Councils, and is managed by Cheshire East Council’s arms length Skills and Growth Company.

Councillor David Brown, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for highways and infrastructure, said: “I am delighted this additional funding has been secured and that the Connecting Cheshire project is going from strength to strength.

“Faster broadband has been proven to drive economic growth and help businesses create jobs.

“The Digital 2020 programme has been designed to ensure we can help as many communities and businesses as possible benefit from faster speeds.”

The process of selecting an infrastructure partner for Digital 2020 is already underway and the scope of coverage will be confirmed once the procurement process is completed. It is hoped that the programme will start its roll-out in early 2018.

The Connecting Cheshire project was launched in April 2013, for more information visit: www.connectingcheshire.org.uk

Notes to editors:

Connecting Cheshire

The project is receiving £960,000 funding from Connecting Cheshire, and will oversee a business contribution of £140,000 as part of a 20 per cent contribution to the broadband connection voucher scheme included in Digital 2020.

For more information visit www.connectingcheshire.org.uk

 

European Regional Development Fund

The project is receiving £3.61m of funding from the England Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the managing authority for the ERDF. Established by the European Union, the ERDF helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

 

Broadband Delivery UK

The project has been allocated £2.54m of funding from Broadband Delivery UK, (BDUK), part of the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. BDUK is delivering superfast broadband and local full-fibre networks to the nation. The government is supporting investment to:

  • Provide superfast broadband coverage to 95 per cent of the UK by December 2017;
  • Provide access to basic broadband (2Mbps) for all; and
  • Stimulate private investment in full fibre connections by 2021

For further information, visit: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk

 

Skills and Growth Company

Cheshire East Council launched an ‘arms-length’ company in April 2016, to bring together skills and growth services under one structure.

The Skills and Growth Company will ensure the council can deliver more for less, achieving greater innovation and benefits for businesses and residents. It will direct businesses towards funding and investment opportunities, increase the availability and take-up of apprenticeships, support people into work, help to create jobs and stimulate growth and innovation. For more information see: www.skillsandgrowth.co.uk

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Runcorn business gets superfast and increases turnover by over 15%

Local business, Supreme Visors, is one of more than 9,000 businesses in Cheshire able to benefit from the high-speed fibre broadband being rolled out thanks to Connecting Cheshire.

Runcorn-based safety and headwear manufacturer, Supreme Visors, provides world-class visors, screens and headwear, such as mine clearance helmets and hats for the for the Royal Navy. Established 30 years ago, the firm has seen turnover increase by more than 15 per cent since getting superfast broadband.

Paul Ferguson, managing director of the firm, said “Before we switched to fibre it was as if our broadband was coming down a piece of wet string. Now we are able to exploit the use of accounting software hosted in the cloud, transfer large files with ease and - more importantly - not miss any important orders. Thanks to all of these efficiencies our turnover has increased by more than 15 per cent.”

The ability to access cloud-based software – usage of which is growing at 32 per cent each year, according to industry analyst house, Gartner – is just one of the benefits to businesses of a superfast broadband connection.

The Connecting Cheshire programme has already enabled 9,918 businesses across the county to access high-speed fibre broadband, and the roll-out continues. The latest locations to benefit include Warrington, Widnes, Smallwood, Bunbury, Burleydam, Wilmslow, Chester, Ellesmere Port and Congleton.

Mark Livesey, deputy chief executive for Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership said: “Creating the right infrastructure to enable businesses in Cheshire to grow and thrive is a key priority for the LEP. The provision of high speed broadband is an important part of this, which is why the LEP is investing European funding to support Connecting Cheshire in rolling this out across the sub-region, and it’s great to see so many businesses benefitting.”

Mike Blackburn, chairman of BT’s North West regional board, said: “The availability of this exciting technology for businesses across Cheshire will play a vital role in the future success and prosperity of the county. High-speed broadband is a major tool in helping today’s businesses attract new customers and work more efficiently. Whether you are an established business or a start-up, fibre broadband offers tremendous opportunities.”

And it’s not just businesses that are benefitting from the high speed technology. Connecting Cheshire is working to roll out faster, more reliable broadband to businesses and homes in the county by delivering fibre broadband in areas which fall outside the private sector’s commercial roll-out of the high-speed technology. The project, which is funded by the Government, four local councils and BT, has delivered fibre broadband to nearly 95000 homes and businesses. More people than ever can now work or start their own business from home.

The new fibre-based network being rolled out by engineers from Openreach, the local network business which is part of BT Group, is open to all broadband providers on an equal wholesale basis so local businesses and households can benefit from competitive products and prices from a wide range of providers.

www.supremevisors.com

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Connecting Cheshire Phase 4 Procurement Announced

Our procurement for the provision of Connecting Cheshire Phase 4 (Digital 2020) has now been launched. The procurement, raised by Cheshire East Council on behalf of the Connecting Cheshire Partnership, “16 189 - Next Generation Access Broadband Infrastructure for Cheshire and Warrington” was posted onto The Chest (The Chest) on Tuesday 6th June 2017 with a link to “Contracts Finder” (A CCS system [part of cabinet office]) and was also sent to OJEU to be posted on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily). The procurement aims to provide coverage to a set of nominated premises (both businesses and residential) across the region where there is currently no provision of broadband with speeds greater than 30 Mbps, described as Not Spot areas.

Please ensure that any / all correspondence is processed via The Chest

Expected milestone dates are :-

4th July 2017 - Closing date for Expressions of Interest and return of agreement of Code of Conduct

25th August 2017 – Bid Response Deadline

6th October 2017 – Notification of outcome

30th October 2017 – Contract Signature

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Follow-up to Consultation into Faster Broadband Coverage

Our Digital 2020 Consultation has now closed and we are now planning for our procurement.

The Connecting Cheshire Partnership intends to conduct an open procurement via OJEU for further coverage of Next Generation Access (NGA) broadband infrastructure (capable of delivering download speeds of at least 30 Mbps) in areas within its Programme Area where such broadband is currently unavailable. These areas, known as “white NGA” comprise around 26,000 premises, which have speeds of <24 Mbps and are in scope of the procurement (note these are subject to refinement as a result of Public Consultation Responses).

The contract will have an initial value of £5.08m with the potential to rise by a further £5m to £10.08m, subject to the Connecting Cheshire team being able to secure further funding. At this stage, we are planning to run the procurement as a single lot, but would welcome any feedback on this approach by 25th April 2017 by contacting us via [email protected] .

The timescales for the procurement are as follows: -

Open Market Review and State Aid Consultation (completed) Nov-16 - Mar-17

Tender specification and contract design Mar - Apr-17

OJEU invitation to tender out with suppliers May - Jul-17

Tenders return Jul-17

Tender evaluation, clarification questions and supplier evaluation Aug-17

Preferred supplier status awarded and standstill Aug-17

Final BDUK assurance, State aid approval, grant agreement signed Sep-17

Contract signature with supplier Sep-17

Contract mobilisation Sep - Oct-17

Contract completion* Oct-19

Anticipated contract closure* Mar-20

* These dates will be subject to final bid responses but potential bidders should note that Completion and Final Payment Dates are stipulated by our funders and these requirements will need to factored into bid responses.

Further information will be made available via our website and on OJEU in due course. If you have any further queries please contact us at the above email address.

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Connecting Cheshire to trial cabinets with AI

Connecting Cheshire are set to trial roadside fibre broadband cabinets with Artificial Intelligence that can talk to passers by and inform on a range of questions such as postcode coverage, fibre capacity and if any potential faults are impacting on performance.

This ground-breaking technology is believed to be the first of its kind, following hot on the heels of Amazon and Google’s home ‘virtual assistants’.

The boffins at Connecting Cheshire are also on the look out for someone to be the voice of the cabinets with a perfect Cheshire accent. Anyone wishing to audition for the role should contact the project team via Twitter @SFB_Cheshire.

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Forthcoming drop-in events

Do you have a question about the Connecting Cheshire project?

Would you like to know more about the superfast broadband technologies in Cheshire?

Three public drop-in briefing events on the roll-out will be held:

6th March – Tarporley Village Hall, CW6 0AY; 5 – 7pm

8th March – Orford Centre, Warrington, WA2 8HE; 5 -7pm

16th March – Holmes Chapel Library, CW4 7AP; 5 – 7pm

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Consultation into Faster Broadband Coverage

The Connecting Cheshire Project is striving to extend the availability of faster broadband infrastructure to meet the Government’s target for 95% of the UK to have access to superfast broadband speeds by the end of 2017.

To achieve this, the Connecting Cheshire Partnership intends to procure further coverage of Next Generation Access (NGA) broadband infrastructure (capable of delivering download speeds of at least 30 Mbps) in areas within its Programme Area where such broadband is currently unavailable, by the end of 2017. The Connecting Cheshire Partnership now intends to conduct a further open procurement in respect of the remaining area without NGA broadband infrastructure (known as “white NGA”), which comprises around 25,750premises (17,129at <24 Mbps).

The Connecting Cheshire Partnership is requesting information on, and supporting evidence for, any current or planned (within the next 3 years) investment in broadband infrastructure in the Connecting Cheshire Area, where this may not be already included within the proposed NGA and Basic broadband intervention area maps, see below.

Please send your responses to arrive no later than midnight on Thursday 16/03/2017.

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Connecting Cheshire’s broadband boost for more communities

Many more communities in Cheshire are set to benefit from the roll-out of superfast broadband – thanks to strong demand for the high-speed fibre technology by local households and businesses.

More than 40 per cent of customers in the Connecting Cheshire area have already chosen to take-up the service, triggering a ‘Gainshare’ award under the terms of the contract with BT to be used to further extend the fibre roll-out.

More than 6,000 premises have just been added to the Connecting Cheshire phase three roll-out plans for 2017 and 2018. As a result of the high take up there is a Gainshare contribution of £3.34m, making a total of £4.3 million including a further BT Investment.

It is expected that around 5,400 of the 6,000 premises will receive superfast speeds of more than 24Mbps and the work is projected to be completed by summer 2018.

Maps are available giving an indication of the proposed coverage. It should be noted that detailed surveys and planning have yet to be completed, so this information, together with any timescales, may change. Proposed coverage includes Mottram St. Andrew, Swettenham, Aston near Frodsham, Hatton near Warrington and Manor Park in Halton. See: www.connectingcheshire.org.uk/maps

 

Public drop-in briefing events on the roll-out will be held:
6th March – Tarporley Village Hall 5 – 7pm

8th March – Orford Centre, Warrington 5 -7pm

16th March – Holmes Chapel Library 5 – 7pm

 

The project has delivered fibre broadband to more than 92,000 homes and businesses in Cheshire over the past three years, installing 600 green fibre cabinets and 1,000 miles of fibre cable in the ground – enough cable to stretch from Crewe to Rome!

Councillor David Brown, deputy leader of Cheshire East Council, said: “Under its initial contract with BT, the Connecting Cheshire programme receives a dividend if take-up reaches a certain point. As this has been achieved, the money will be used to extend the network to areas previously outside the planned coverage area – which is great news.

“Investing public money in fibre broadband helps sustain our rural communities and maintains Cheshire’s competitive edge as a business destination. It also allows homeowners to do things that need a faster internet connection, like accessing skills and learning, entertainment and other social connections.”

Tony Morgan, BT’s programme director, said: “The Connecting Cheshire programme is going from strength to strength. We are seeing strong take-up of fibre broadband across the county and this is helping us reach even more communities.

“BT is committed to rolling out this transformational technology as far as possible. Together with our commercial rollout, more than 96 per cent of homes and businesses across the county are now able to access fibre broadband.”

To check availability in your area visit www.connectingcheshire.org.uk

All of the engineering work as part of Connecting Cheshire is being carried out by Openreach, BT’s local network business. This means residents and businesses with access to fibre broadband can choose from a wide range of internet service providers and benefit from competitive pricing and products.

To find out if residents or businesses can upgrade to fibre broadband they need to speak to their internet service provider to order an upgrade as they will not automatically be upgraded.

Connecting Cheshire is managed by Cheshire East Council’s arms-length Skills and Growth Company.

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