Coffee’s brewing at Chapelfields Community Centre – thanks to York’s UFO network
Residents in Chapelfields were enjoying an extra special cup of coffee today thanks to York’s Ultra Fibre Optic (UFO) network.
UFO provider TalkTalk donated a coffee machine to Chapelfields Community Centre, and launched two digital skills sessions to help residents get online and stay safe.
The gift to the centre is part of a community drive by TalkTalk during the build of its full fibre network expansion project.
It will provide ultra-fast full fibre internet to 55,000 homes and businesses across York by the end of next year and make it the UK’s first Ultra Fibre Optic city.
Free skills sessions
York’s UFO from TalkTalk will be holding free digital skills sessions for the residents of Chapelfields that will focus on two topics: digital skills and safety online.
Residents will be able to get help with any of their digital questions and learn about how to do day to day things on their phones. The digital skills sessions will take place at Sanderson House, Chapelfields Community Centre on 15th and 22nd November between 10am and 12pm.
Around 1,000 residents in Chapelfields are now able to connect to York’s UFO network which delivers lightning fast internet speeds of up to 1000 Mb/s (1 Gigabit) directly into their homes.
This means that residents with a gigabit connection can 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 in an average UK home.
Chapelfields joins the 20,000 homes and businesses that have recently been able to connect in Dringhouses, Woodthorpe and Foxwood.
Extending the network
York’s UFO has also started building in Holgate and Poppleton where ‘narrow trenches’ are being dug along the pavements of the streets to be connected so that the fibre can be installed.
Homes and businesses in Rawcliffe, Clifton, Huntington, New Earswick and parts of The Groves have been able to connect for the past couple of years.
Helen Fletcher, marketing manager for York’s UFO for TalkTalk said:
-
Opportunities to provide communities in York with something that will make a real difference to them is a joy for us as we roll out Ultra Fibre Optic across York.
We’re looking forward to meeting more of the Chapelfields residents over the next few weeks when we deliver the digital skills sessions.
We will then look at rolling out these sessions to other community centres across the city.
A full fibre first
For £25.50 per month, York’s Ultra Fibre Optic is 20 times faster, more stable and reliable than other ‘fibre’ products. Better still there is no difference in download and upload speeds even when everyone is online at the same time. It’s the future of internet connectivity globally; once connected, it’s completely scalable and therefore futureproof.
Research by the House of Commons Library, using information provided by Ofcom, revealed that York Outer constituency already has the fastest download speeds in the country at 128.9Mb/s, with York Central second fastest at 82.4Mb/s. This compares to a national average of 44.6Mb/s.