Norwich sets UK broadband first

By Simon Aughton

Posted on 2 Jan 2003 at 15:52

Norwich is to be the first UK city with its own dedicated high-speed broadband network.

A system that will cover the city centre, business parks and Norwich Airport could be up and running in 2004. By using existing installations such as sewers, river beds and spare ducting, the project is expected to save some 60 to 70 per cent on schemes that involve digging up the roads, and is designed to provide small and medium-sized businesses - who might be put off by the high cost of leased lines - with affordable broadband access.

Norfolk County Council is overseeing the project and it believes that lack of broadband facilities makes Norfolk an unattractive place for high-tech companies to locate.

Chief executive Tim Byles said the project would put the city in an 'unenviable position of being ahead of the rest of the country'.

'It will make Norwich and Norfolk more attractive to high tech firms wishing to use new technology to grow their businesses, to existing companies who otherwise would not be able to afford this sort of investment and to the public sector which can use new technology to deliver services more efficiently,' he added.

The network will be funded by a £3.4 million grant from the East of England Development Agency whose head of organisation and development Brian Hayes said, 'we expect the project will establish a model of best practice for the rest of the region and the country as a whole.'