Users urged to support the Better Broadband for Norfolk project

Last September, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that Norfolk would be one of the counties that would be benefiting from investments on broadband. During a question and answer session, he explained that rural areas might have to face a huge disadvantage without this broadband investment, since businesses in the areas would be left unable to compete with rivals. He said: “I think this will be hugely important, in particular for Norfolk and Suffolk, which are great business locations, but absolutely need those broadband connections.”

Now Norfolk is well on its way to receiving superfast Internet. This was revealed early this month when the “Better Broadband for Norfolk” was launched. The goal of the project was to upgrade the existing broadband connections in the region so that the whole of Norfolk would have the luxury of superfast broadband access by the end of this year.

In order to get the project up and running, more funding needs to be obtained, particularly from the telecoms industry. However, £30 million has already been obtained in public funding.

In efforts to take steps to obtain this additional funding, a registration website has been launched with the goal of gathering more information from Norfolk web users. The Say Yes to Better Broadband campaign is a joint project between the EDP and Norfolk County Council. On the first day after the site was launched, over 1,200 responses were recorded from registrants.

Ann Steward, Norfolk County Council’s cabinet member for economic development, stated: “The importance of painting an accurate picture of the demand that exists in Norfolk cannot be understated. We know that many individuals, families, businesses and communities are held back and frustrated by poor broadband access.”

She added: “Now we need a sheer volume of people to show they want a better broadband service so we can ultimately get a deal that means 
the Better Broadband for Norfolk project can get superfast broadband out to as many properties as possible. We really need everyone’s support on this.”

Steward also said that the launch of the website was an “exciting phase” in the project, stating: ““I strongly believe the news that our Back the Bid campaign had been deemed worthy of a pound-for-pound investment by the government was one of the best things that has happened to Norfolk for many a year – and possibly ever.”

EDP editor Peter Waters also said: “It is impossible to over-state how important it is that this project succeeds in achieving better broadband speeds for everyone 
whose lives and businesses are suffering from the lack of a decent connection.”