- Leader of the City of York Council, Cllr Ian Gillies, joins Alex Birtles, Director of Fibre-to-the-Premise at TalkTalk, as York’s Ultra Fibre Optic (UFO) goes live in Poppleton
11 March 2019: York’s UFO from TalkTalk is on track to transform York into the UK’s first Ultra Fibre Optic city as it ramps up its full fibre rollout programme, bringing gigabit broadband speeds (1000 Mbps) to residents in Poppleton for the first time.
The full fibre network now spans more than 33,000 homes and businesses and is on track to reach up to 55,000 across York by 2020.
York’s UFO from TalkTalk is both accessible and affordable and has helped to significantly improve the quality of broadband across the city. It delivers gigabit speeds through Fibre-to-the-Premise technology, which involves laying full fibre all the way from the exchange into individual homes or businesses. Full fibre is twenty times faster, more stable and reliable than other ‘fibre’ products*. Gigabit speeds (1000 Mbps) allow you to download a two-hour HD film in several seconds or 100 songs in three seconds, tasks that currently take more than 25 minutes and eight minutes on a standard broadband connection.
Poppleton joins Dringhouses, Woodthorpe, Foxwood, Chapelfields and parts of Holgate which were recently connected to the network and can benefit from faster, more reliable internet. So far, the roll out has seen 308 kilometres of fibre optic cabling being laid under the streets of York and digging has recently started in Heworth and Tang Hall as work moves to the East of the city.
Alex Birtles, Director of Fibre-to-the-Premise at TalkTalk, visited Poppleton last week with Cllr Ian Gillies, Leader of the City of York Council.
Alex Birtles said: “We’re committed to unlocking York’s full digital potential and transforming it into the UK’s first Ultra Fibre Optic city. Residents in Poppleton will now be able to enjoy the benefits of our full fibre broadband and we’re on track to complete our network expansion across the city by 2020.”
Cllr Ian Gillies, Leader of City of York Council said, “As the UK’s first gigabit city, improved connectivity is providing new opportunities for residents and businesses across York off the back of millions of pounds of public and private sector investment.
“We’re pleased to see that more of the city is now able to access gigabit speeds and are committed to ensuring that every area of the city is connected to the fastest speeds possible. Investment from connectivity providers plays an important role in creating a future-ready, digital city and with more and more homes due to be connected this year it is an exciting time for the city.”
Residents in the North of the City in Rawcliffe, Clifton, Huntington, New Earswick, along with parts of The Groves have been able to connect to the network for the last three years.
Tom Ellerby, an IT Consultant and resident from Rawcliffe, has experienced the benefits of York’s Ultra Fibre Optic first hand. He said: “When UFO was installed, we were able to use all our devices at once with no time lags. The change was instantaneous once we were connected and we now we have a lot less family arguments! I’ve already recommended it to my neighbours, and I got my business onto UFO as soon as I could. Being an IT business, having UFO means we can support our clients better, providing them with an improved experience, which has helped our business to grow.”
For more information about York’s Ultra Fibre Optic from TalkTalk, please follow TalkTalkUFOYork on Facebook and Twitter or to place an order visit www.talktalk.co.uk/ufo.
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Editor’s notes:
Picture: Left to Right – Councillor Ian Gillies, Leader of the City of York Council with Alex Birtles, Director of Fibre-to-the-Premise at TalkTalk beside one of York’s Ultra Fibre Optic cabinets in Poppleton
*Ultra Fibre Optic is a brand new, next generation full fibre network. It is the only network which provides full fibre directly into individual homes and businesses. Unlike the old copper network, it delivers seamless internet and gives more reliable speed and stability compared with other ‘fibre’ products:
- Openreach ADSL <10Mbps – uses copper all the way from the exchange to homes/premises
- Openreach Fibre to the Cabinet Up to 80Mbps – uses fibre to the street cabinet (FTTC), but copper phone wires into homes or businesses
- Virgin Media Coaxial Cable up to 300Mbps – an improvement on FTTC but essentially still copper but in protective casing
For further information, please contact: Rachel Goddard, Intandem Communications on 01904 637677 or 07774 486237