Building on the UK’s regional and national strengths, UKTIN’s Clusters Group exists to provide an open forum for inter-regional collaboration, sharing of best practices, insights and dissemination of learnings. Its overarching aim is to advance the adoption of advanced connectivity and has been designed to ensure all regions and nations of the UK can benefit equally.
The group focuses on showcasing and highlighting the capabilities and approaches of individual regions and so in a recent Clusters Advisory Group meeting, Ceren Clulow, Programme Director of Connecting Cambridgeshire, shared her insights.
What does Cambridgeshire’s telecoms landscape look like?
In 2011, Cambridgeshire County Council invested over £20m in future connectivity by launching the Connecting Cambridgeshire superfast broadband programme and contracting BT to roll out fast internet access for thousands of homes and businesses that would not be covered commercially.
Together with £3m from Peterborough City Council and £8.75m government funding, the County’s initial outlay has since been used to leverage further funding, grants and private investments including £5.6m from Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority to extend the programme to improve mobile and public access Wi-Fi as well as fibre broadband.
By 2025, the county aims to beat 85% gigabit-capable fibre coverage. New mobile mast applications have also increased by 100%, securing better coverage on key road and rail routes.
In terms of advanced connectivity, IoT network gateways and data hubs are being used, alongside the piloting of new technologies including air quality and flooding sensors.
How does Connecting Cambridgeshire fit into this?
Connecting Cambridgeshire is improving Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s digital infrastructure to drive economic growth, help businesses and communities thrive and make it easier to access public services.
The project has reached almost 99% coverage - in 2011, fewer than 60% of premises could get superfast broadband services up to 24Mbps. The take up of faster broadband has been among the highest in the country, with now over 78% and we are seeing a growing demand for gigabit-capable full fibre, offering future-proof speeds of up to 1000Mbps.
We’ve made substantial progress, but our focus now will remain on the 1% who do not receive broadband coverage. There is a demand for it, and the Project Gigabit rollout is also in place. But the commercial operators do not seem to be going to that 1%, something that we are looking to change. We want to support broadband in these areas.
How does it operate?
The Connecting Cambridgeshire programme, hosted by Cambridgeshire County Council, is led by Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority, working with local councils, government bodies and external organisations.
Our Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Strategy 2021-2025 has built on the past success of collaborative work with other local councils, government, and commercial providers to ensure that Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have the leading-edge digital connectivity infrastructure needed for local businesses to thrive and that no communities are left behind.
Our Enabling Digital Delivery service supports telecom operators working on critical broadband and mobile networks and can help liaise with planners and street works. Our interactions with telecom suppliers and mobile operators are frequent and collaborative.
Partnerships are essential for strategic growth, and the relationships that we have with our stakeholders are very important. This is why we’ve managed to achieve so much.
Contributing to the UK’s broader aims
The Combined Authority has ambitious targets to address the digital divide by reducing inequality in health and levelling up access to education, jobs and public services, including improving connectivity for social housing residents.
In addition, the updated Connecting Cambridgeshire Digital Connectivity Strategy sets out new, challenging targets to help ensure that Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are well-positioned to take full advantage of current and emerging technology advances.
The strategy focuses on delivering next-generation broadband connectivity and mobile coverage, using ‘Smart’ technologies to improve the environment, and extending free public access Wi-Fi while supporting digital inclusion.
This builds upon the ongoing work of the Connecting Cambridgeshire programme which has established a national reputation for collaborative working at the forefront of innovation, attracting public and private sector funding to invest in future-facing digital infrastructure.
We are providing our expertise to the Government and have been involved with several DSIT programmes and competitions. Cambridge County Council recently received more funding as part of the ONE competition, which is brilliant. We are very open to solutions and testing new technologies.
Head to the Connecting Cambridgeshire website to learn more, and find out more about the UKTIN Clusters Group here.
