Contracts to build the Liverpool City Region’s ultrafast broadband superspine have been announced by Steve Rotheram, metro mayor for the Liverpool City Region. This join venture is backed by ITS, NGE and the Hartree Centre.
We all knew superfast gigabit broadband infrastructure was coming, but we never knew exactly how soon. The wheels are finally in motion, though, and we couldn’t be more excited at Multiko to see just what this new era of internet access has in store for us! As a side note, Britain is currently in the bottom 20th percentile in Europe for internet speeds. Having access to this gigabit internet could potentially push us into the top 20th percentile.
How will it work?
Simply put, from what we can gather from our exhaustive research, the LCR will be building on top of pre-existing trans-Atlantic data cables to create a new superfast broadband cable network throughout the Liverpool city Region.
This new superfast broadband superspine network will be capable of 1,000MB/s (or 1 Gigabit per second) data transfer, which is approximately 15 times the national average of 64MB/s. Now, this doesn’t mean everyone will instantly get better internet speeds (though, some should see an improvement, especially in parts of the city with poorer internet connections), but it should definitely reduce the cost of internet plans for everyone in the region – Liverpool, Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley, Sefton and Halton.
The Financing
The superfast broadband contract has been awarded to the ITS and NGE companies, renowned for their infrastructure and IT knowledge and experience. This is a £30m joint venture set to add £105m into the local economy, with heuristics suggesting this could be worth an eventual £1b boost to the economy – talk about a good ROI, that’s a 3333% return! And it’s no wonder, these speeds will be great for business. We also learned from Paul Amann that the Liverpool City Region believes in prosperity for all of it’s citizens, so it’s going to be no big surprise if every street of the Liverpool City Region has access to this new gigabit internet.
People of Note
Ready to get the superspine network rolling, Steve Rotheram had this to say:
“When I was elected, I made it a priority to make our region the most digitally connected anywhere in the country. Today we take a major step towards that, with the launch of this exciting partnership.”
“Our region was at the heart of the first industrial revolution, and I believe that this project can help us be at the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution, creating thousands of jobs and ultimately generating £1bn for the local economy. It will make us leaders in the industries of tomorrow and will help us attract talent and investment from around the world as others look to take advantage of our skills, infrastructure and expertise.”
“Local people and businesses will feel the benefits too – in the form of significantly faster speeds as well as the jobs and training opportunities, although the Government still needs to tackle the problem of digital exclusion.”
“And, best of all, it will all be 50% owned by us so we can continue to reap the benefits for years to come.”
“As we have done so many times before, this is our region seizing the initiative, leading the way and crafting what I hope will be a lucrative and successful new future that everybody in our region can benefit from.”
Source: Liverpool City Region Superspine
Alison Kennedy, Director of the Hartree Centre had this to say about the superfast broadband project:
“The powerful computing capability at the Hartree Centre underpins our work with a range of companies to help them benefit from advanced digital technologies. This faster connectivity infrastructure will allow us reach even more companies and support their growth. A number of companies have already co-located at Sci-Tech Daresbury, including IBM Research. Being linked to one of the fastest digital infrastructures in the country is a strong incentive for additional SMEs and larger companies to expand their presence in the region.”
Source: Liverpool City Region Superspine
Cllr David Baines also spoke:
“Being digitally connected is more important for our region than ever before so I am pleased we are moving at pace with this important work.
“This is a transformational project, one which will not only help our city region recover from COVID-19 but help us rebuild our economy better than before. Gigabit-capable connectivity creates a huge opportunity for those living and working in all six of our boroughs, through attracting global companies and industries and creating more jobs.”
Source: Liverpool City Region Superspine
Proud to be a part of the superfast broadband’s construction, Daren Baythorpe, CEO of ITS Technology, said:
“ITS is delighted to be awarded this contract and be part of the team rolling out full fibre across the Liverpool City Region. This programme will have a transformational effect for everyone in the region and we are excited to be playing a central role in its delivery.”
“As shareholder partners in the Joint Venture we are proud to be contributing significantly to the tremendous growth in the digital economy of the region, and supporting national targets for full fibre access by 2033.”
“The awarding of the contract further confirms ITS’s place as a leading next generation network provider in the UK focused on helping businesses develop in the digital age. ITS with its expert team has a track record in deploying and managing gigabit capable full fibre networks, that help to drive innovation and productivity.”
Source: Liverpool City Region Superspine
Antoine Metzger, Chairman of NGE, also had this to say:
“NGE is proud to be part of the joint venture appointed to support the transformation of Liverpool City Region. Our local subsidiary – NGE Contracting – has won a project that will shape the city. We bring to the JV our expertise in infrastructure financing (through NGE Concessions) and our capabilities in the implementation of a high quality digital network (through NGE Infranet).”
“Using labour and resources from within the Liverpool City Region, this project is also a fantastic opportunity to deploy our infrastructure development and finance expertise in cities across the UK such as Liverpool.”
Source: Liverpool City Region Superspine
To stay up to date with local City Region news updates, follow Multiko on social media.
Share this article on social media: