North Yorkshire has been successful in its bid for a portion of a £10 million innovation fund to explore ways of getting superfast broadband to the hardest to reach parts of the county.
The pilot scheme, for Airwave Wireless coverage, will receive £1.6m of the fund. It aims to demonstrate how four next-generation wireless systems will operate to expand coverage beyond the premises which are already being connected to high speed, high quality connections as part of the Superfast North Yorkshire project.
The four test technologies will be:
• Wi-Fi at 2.4Ghz
• Point-to-multipoint broadband fixed wireless access at 2.4Ghz or 5.8Ghz
• LTE small cells, and
• TV white space
The pilot will work to ensure as many homes and businesses, no matter how remote they are, can receive the benefits of better broadband in the future.
Julian Smith, Member of Parliament for Skipton and Ripon, said:
“I have led the campaign to bring improved broadband to homes and businesses in North Yorkshire and am delighted the Government has once again recognised the importance of ensuring as many premises as possible receive the best possible connections.
“This pilot scheme for wireless coverage will help ensure high speed and high quality internet connections become available to even the most remote parts of my constituency where traditional technologies struggle to reach.
“It promises to further boost our economy by helping to ensure we are doing all we can to fill in any gaps in broadband coverage across England’s most rural county, North Yorkshire.”
Culture Secretary Sajid Javid added:
"Our nationwide rollout is progressing at a terrific rate and each week superfast speeds are becoming a reality for tens of thousands of homes and businesses in rural areas across the UK.
“We know how important this has become which is why we are investing £10m in these pilots to explore how we can extend coverage beyond the 95% of the UK we are on track to deliver by 2017."