ORTON Southgate has become the latest area of the city to be connected to CityFibre’s pure fibre Peterborough CORE network. Sixteen businesses have been connected, or are in the process of being connected to the network delivering Gigabit speed internet.

A further 300 companies in the economically important hub are also in range of the new stage of the network to address long standing connectivity issues in Orton Southgate.
Work began in March to extend the existing 90km Peterborough CORE network to Orton Southgate after over 100 local businesses registered their interest in gigabit speed connectivity. This followed CityFibre’s ‘Gig Up Orton Southgate’ campaign and the ‘Yes2Fibre’ campaign led by Lindsey Hall of EasyLifeIT.

Digital connectivity has become paramount in Peterborough, as it experiences a boom in business activity. Over 1,900 new businesses were registered in 2014 – a city record. Last year, the number of business created in Peterborough exceeded the number of closures by 75 per cent, the UK average is 58 per cent.

Some of the first businesses to be connected include Hawk Audio Visual, Orton Enterprise Centre, Carl F Group, Peterborough Office Supplies, Websweep, and Big Web Warehouse.
Commenting on the completion of the new extension, Andy Starnes (left), city development manager at CityFibre, said: “This is fantastic news for Peterborough, as it’s great to be bringing the power of pure fibre to more and more local businesses. We have no doubt the new network will have a positive impact on the local economy.”

Marcus Lawday, production director at Hawk Audio Visual said: “All the creative services we provide to corporate clients including video and animation production require quick large file transfers which are heavily reliant on the very best in internet connectivity. Having dealt with inadequate internet for sometime now, we’re delighted that the fast, reliable internet that is paramount to our on-going success has arrived via the Peterborough CORE.”

Lindsey Hall, managing director at EasyLifeIT and who ran the YES2Fibre campaign said: “When we started the campaign to get the Peterborough CORE extended to Orton Southgate, local businesses were fed up with dealing with the inadequate broadband services on offer. In this modern age, having a gigabit speed connection is vital in day-to-day business. We’re delighted the area is now part of the digital age.”