£100k of Vouchers Brings Full Fibre to the Shambles in York UK

More than 40 businesses along The Shambles street in the city of York (England) – one of the oldest shopping street’s in Europe and the only “street” recorded in York’s Domesday entry of 1086 – have got access to a 1000Mbps “full fibre” network thanks to the Government’s £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.

The voucher scheme (GBVS) offers up to £2,500 to help individual businesses gain access to a Gigabit capable connection (usually some form of fibre optic service – in this case a private leased line) and these can be aggregated, which is how the businesses along the Shambles were able to raise £100,000 in order to afford the work.

The deployment itself, which mostly took place during the night over a 4 week period, required the removal of the entire previously used copper line network in order to make way for new fibre. The line was installed first into Kings Court and then extended onto The Shambles, via the overhead gantry, offering businesses along the street a “direct fibre connection“.

Crucially this approach avoided the disturbance of the brick work, beams and other historical features of the area. The build itself was conducted by contractor FACTCO and installer EuroComs, albeit as part of a partnership with the Government (DCMS) and City of York Council. The vouchers also mean that none of the local businesses have had to pay for the initial installation themselves.

Matt Warman, UK Minister for Digital, said:

“We’re committed to future-proofing our communities and boosting the economy by delivering world-class, gigabit-capable broadband to the whole of the UK.

Nowhere is our ambition more clear than on the Shambles, where I’m very pleased that our £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme is providing York’s oldest street with the very fastest fibre connectivity around.”

Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council, said:

“Many are attracted to York for its history and culture however, our digital infrastructure is supporting our residents and businesses with future-ready connectivity to be productive and innovative in the 21st century.

We’re pleased to see the historic Shambles and Kings Court benefiting from our city’s connectivity and the success of another innovative approach to advancing York’s digital infrastructure.”

The approach taken above is now expected to be replicated in other areas of the city centre that are harder to reach or which ordinarily don’t attract investment as part of larger works, often due to lack of market density. The council expects this rollout to include the Stonegate, Petergate and Swinegate area in the next phase of fibre installation.

Businesses and residents in these areas can express interest in the opportunity to receive full fibre connectivity by contacting the Digital York team at digitalcity@york.gov.uk .