Good news if you live in the City of York, H2O Networks ( i3 Group ) has begun building a dark fibre network around the city that will offer superfast broadband speeds of up to 10Gbps. The new platform is part of an 8 year £13.7 million contract signed between the City of York Council, Pinacl Solutions and H2O.

The fibre optic broadband network itself will provide the area with a managed service environment for networking across the city-wide Council’s estate, which includes 67 schools, 14 libraries, accommodation and council offices as well as sports facilities.

The new service will also bring some added advantages, such as IP telephony, video conferencing, CCTV and a variety of Urban Traffic Management services. It is expected to exceed upcoming BECTA guidelines for school connectivity and support around 24,000 pupils in the locality.


It's understood that "third party" business users and consumers (visitors and tourists) will be able to access services provided by and through the network, such as via future wireless network deployments in the city that could make use of the extra capacity.

Sadly the project is different from H2O's deployments in Dundee and Bournemouth because its network in the City of York will focus more on improving government and council services. It does not look as if the network will be directly opened up to ISPs. The completion of the whole network should be in place by September 2010.