Nottingham Council residents join Gigabit revolution

Residents at Victoria Centre flats and The Woodlands in Nottingham will soon have access to the fastest broadband service in the UK. Nottingham City Homes, which manages the homes on behalf of Nottingham Council, has agreed a supply deal with the UK’s leading Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) provider, Hyperoptic.

Because Hyperoptic installs its fibre all the way into the building it can enable symmetrical gigabit speeds (1,000Meg), which is over 128 times faster than ASDL. Installation is currently underway and thousands of Nottingham Council’s residents are expected to be online with gigabit connectivity within the month. To minimise disruption to the residents at Victoria Centre, the installation has been scheduled in tandem with an upgrade to its intercom system.

Twenty-two-year-old Michaela Spencer, a resident of Victoria Centre flats, said: “I’m really pleased to be benefiting from this brand new broadband service. I don’t know how I’d function without the Internet at home, as I do so much on there. From shopping online to booking appointments, keeping in touch with friends, streaming films and paying bills, I’m always using the Internet.

“I feel really privileged to be benefiting from this much faster broadband, it will genuinely make a difference to me.”

Hyperoptic has become renowned across the UK for setting the standard in fibre broadband. As well as pioneering the nation’s fastest broadband service, it is also raising the industry bar via the affordability and flexibility of its products. Customers can opt for a ‘broadband only’ product, broadband and landline bundles and a ‘no contract’ service, which just requires 30 days notice, with no minimum term.

Steve Holford, Chief Customer Officer, Hyperoptic: “Two issues that typically compound digital exclusion are the provision and quality of broadband services. A lack of broadband provision and a poor experience hinders adoption. Our full fibre approach gives social housing residents access to the fastest broadband speeds in the UK – the best positive Internet experience they could possibly have. The feedback from Councils we are working with has been phenomenal and we look forward to repeating this success with Nottingham City Homes.”

Steve Edlin, Assistant Director of Asset Management at Nottingham City Homes, said: “When we reviewed the broadband service available to our tenants at Victoria Centre flats and the Woodlands, it was important we were able to offer something reliable and fast, so the buildings are future proofed to handle the requirements technology may present us with in the future.

“We were keen to minimise disruption to the individual tenants, so made sure we coincided visits for broadband with the updating of the building’s intercom system within Victoria Centre. I hope the tenants see the real difference with the service now available to them.”

Councillor Nick McDonald, Portfolio Holder for Jobs, Growth and Transport, said: “We are delighted to see new Internet service providers entering the Nottingham market and that they are making a significant and positive impact on the lives of Nottingham City Homes tenants. Access to fast and reliable broadband is one of the foundations needed to encourage more business growth in the city and we’re ambitious about providing it for local businesses.”