High Speed Success for Business

An extra 4,700 Lancashire firms will soon have access to high-speed broadband to boost their business efficiency.

The Lancashire Digital Development Agency has brokered a £1.2 million deal to open up enhanced broadband services to the additional businesses, as part of its drive to switch on the county to the benefits of broadband and ICT adoption.

Prior to this initiative, less than 85 per cent of all Lancashire businesses were able to obtain even a 2Mbps ADSL connection. The LDDA's investment means that more than 90 per cent will shortly have access to a high-speed broadband connection of up to 2Mbps with some benefiting from up to 8Mbps (subject to distance from the exchange).

The LDDA has signed the £1.2 million contract with Synetrix, who will be installing hi-tech equipment in a number of the county's BT telephone exchanges this year.

LDDA Development Officer, Joe Mitchell, said: "We are thrilled to be working with Synetrix to deliver high-speed broadband services to more of Lancashire's businesses. Synetrix have pioneered some of the most important broadband networks in the UK today, and the new services will enable businesses to cut their download times by up to three quarters."