Buffering could soon be a thing of the past as York becomes home to the fastest internet in Britain.
Known as UFO, or UltraFibreOptic, this world-leading technology plumbs fibre optic cables directly into the home – avoiding slower copper wires.
It means you can download a high-definition film in 30 seconds, or save 100 photos in less than five seconds.
100 times faster than standard broadband
Never slows no matter how many people are using it at once
£21.70 a month all-in – line-rental included
Totally unlimited uploads and downloads
York was chosen as the pilot ‘gigabit city’. Now the initial roll-out is really gaining momentum, as telecoms company TalkTalk launches three days of events to get the message out to the next areas that can be connected.
So where can you get it?
Live now – and coming soon
Homes in two areas of York can connect up straight away: Huntington and Rawcliffe. The parts of the map in green are where you can get UFO broadband now.
Parts of Clifton are able to connect and so is Muncastergate, whose residents campaigned for the service to come to them.
Not every street in Huntington is connected: if you live in the orange area check if you’re eligible now by putting your postcode into the checker on the TalkTalk UFO website.
The yellow area is where the roll-out is going next. This incorporates large parts of the Wigginton Road and Haxby Road areas, New Earswick, Clifton Moor and The Groves.
Party in Huntington
Here you can find out all you need to know about the ultra-fast broadband.
There’ll be experts on hand to answer your questions, and the chance to win prizes including a 4K TV and shopping vouchers.
Huntington Library, Garth Road, and Huntington Sports Club, North Lane
Thu Jun 9 & Fri Jun 10 @ 11am-7pm; Sat Jun 11 @ 11am-3pm
There’ll be family activities like face-painting, bouncing stilt-walkers and the Minster Monster, as well as refreshments.
You can drop in at any time. And you can even flag down the UFO Taxi Bike for a lift to one of the hubs.
Changed our lives
Richard Sinclair, head of ultrafast at TalkTalk, said:
It’s the next-generation broadband. It means people can do whatever they want to do and have the capacity to do it.
That has revolutionised life for York mum-of-four Selina Ward.
She said her family are all on gadgets – including four-year-old Mia, who plays games on an iPhone while the adults talk broadband.
Previously the buffering meant they couldn’t live stream movies. “We had a really, really slow internet connection,” Selina said.
Now they can do it all online – gaming, streaming, downloading – and the internet never slows. She said:
I know it’s only internet but this connection has changed our lives.
Now we can watch streamed programmes and let the kids do their homework without taking it in turns to use the internet.