WiSpire Expands 30Mbps Wireless Broadband Network in Norfolk UK

Norfolk focused ISP WiSpire, which works alongside the Diocese of Norwich to offer faster wireless broadband services to isolated parts of the English county, has installed new transmitter kit in the village of Cantley that will deliver speeds of up to 30Mbps within a 16km radius.

The new hardware was installed on top of the Cantley Sugar Factory, which stands tall in a community that is otherwise home to a population of just over 700. The development is the first “large scale” expansion of coverage since WiSpire entered into a significant new commercial partnership with community media publisher Archant last summer (here).

Since last year’s deal the ISP’s normally church-based transmitters have also been upgraded with extra capacity, which is designed to support future service improvements and more customers.

Steve Maine, CEO of WiSpire, said:

“We have identified that thousands of broadband users across rural Norfolk suffer dire connect speeds. Our new service from Cantley provides a significant step change in the speed and quality of service that we can deliver and positions WiSpire as a true next generation provider.

Our wireless service will reach out to those rural not-spots, providing much-needed broadband connectivity to those people who wouldn’t otherwise get it through a fibre alternative.

Other players say that market penetration in Norfolk is high and that fibre is cutting the mustard. In our experience, this is not universally the case for more rural communities across the county. Our innovative service can help those blighted by this poor service.”

We should point out that the first phase of the separate and fixed line focused Better Broadband for Norfolk project with BT completed in November 2015, although it was only able to extend “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) services to 83% of local premises (here). A second Superfast Extension Programme (SEP) contract also exists (here), which has pledged to push the network footprint out to reach 90% of premises by 2017 (90% may reference “superfast” 24Mbps+ coverage).

Suffice to say that Norfolk is a very rural county in England and as such its targets tend to be running a little behind other areas, which is not unlike the situation in Scotland (e.g. Highlands). However WiSpire’s claim to offer speeds of up to 30Mbps seem not to be reflected on their website, where the fastest broadband package for home users offers ‘up to’ 10Mbps (1Mbps upload) with unlimited usage for £28 per month (plus £199.99 installation) on a 12 month contract.