£250k Full Fibre Boost for Homes and Businesses in Wyre

Businesses and some surrounding homes on the Hillhouse Technology Enterprise Zone in Wyre (Lancashire, England) look set to benefit after the local Wyre Council agreed to support a £250,000 extension (SPR-2) of the nearby Local Full Fibre Network (LFFN), which could widen the availability of gigabit broadband speeds.

The Government’s LFFN programme is currently supporting the roll-out of a new “full fibre” network in Blackpool via their £3.1m investment to help connect public sector sites. As part of this the ITS Technology Group, which is making use of the local Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CNI), has been busy helping to deploy a new fibre optic network across the Fylde Coast – from Blackpool Airport to Fleetwood (a total of 23km along the tramway).

By contrast the new agreement authorises Wyre’s Corporate Director Communities to “enter into a grant funding agreement with Blackpool Council to use the contractor currently delivering the [LFFN] throughout Blackpool; to which these works would be an extension.” Documents from the council state that Blackpool’s existing contract is with TNP Limited.

As part of this the local authority would make a grant payment from the EZ Business Rates Growth Reserve to Blackpool Council with an estimated value of up to £250,000 (this is from a total of £320,000 that is being allocated to improve infrastructure on the EZ).

Council Statement

SPR-2 is an extension to the Full Fibre Network currently being delivered across the Fylde Coast by Blackpool Council; shown at appendix 1 and referred to as phase 1. Phase 1 will provide a full fibre network to the northern extent of the EZ; shown in yellow at appendix 2. To provide greater connectivity for the EZ an extension is needed to Bourne Road and the surrounding areas. This extension will ensure maximum benefit for the businesses within the EZ and the wider area locally including residential properties nearby.

You can see a route map for the Fylde Coast LFFN online and the new SPR-2 extension is pictured below, although we suspect that it would take more investment to connect individual homes.