Rural areas in Harrogate have been revealed as the worst in North Yorkshire for internet connections.

Ofcom figures show parts of the district are lagging behind Ryedale, Craven, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Scarborough, Selby and York for superfast broadband, with 69% connectivity in rural Harrogate compared with 96% in urban areas.

Slow internet speeds can hinder economic growth and leave thousands of businesses and households plunged into “technology blackspots”.

That is according to North Yorkshire County Council, which launched its broadband company NYnet in 2007 and said the rollout of superfast internet in rural communities has involved one of the most challenging projects of its kind nationally.

It said it has invested £85 million in broadband services, although it admitted improving connectivity remains a “significant challenge”.

Alastair Taylor, chief executive of NYnet, said:

“We remain committed to providing broadband coverage across all parts of North Yorkshire, from the county’s major urban areas to the remotest communities.

“NYnet has been working for more than a decade on a programme to bring superfast broadband throughout North Yorkshire.

“More than 190,000 premises have been upgraded on Openreach’s digital network to provide faster and more reliable broadband connections.

“More than 80% of premises have now taken advantage of the dramatically improved broadband speeds which have been made available to them.”

Mr Taylor also argued that the Ofcom figures date from 2019 and since then there has been “a great deal of work conducted in both the Harrogate district as well as the whole county”.

Read more:

• Beckwithshaw has worst superfast broadband coverage in North Yorkshire
• Free public Wi-Fi rolled out on in Harrogate

Across the whole of the Harrogate district, overall connectivity is now 93% – just above the county’s average of 92%, Mr Taylor said.

The latest figures come after research by the independent North Yorkshire Rural Commission – which was established by the county council and launched in 2019 – revealed that a fifth of all rural areas in the county had no broadband connection.

The council said engineering challenges have “intensified” in the past four years as its Superfast North Yorkshire project has extended into some of the most remote rural communities.

It added more than 190,000 premises have been upgraded over the past decade and that the digital network is now available to the majority of people in the county’s two national parks covering the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors.

Council leader Carl Les said:

“The issue of poor broadband connectivity has been a long-standing problem for many parts of North Yorkshire, especially in communities in deeply rural areas.

“The chance to introduce these improved broadband connections is vital for businesses in the 21st century, whether they are based in the biggest town or city or in the smallest village or hamlet.

“But they are also a necessity to ensure our rural communities have a future, helping to attract families and younger people to live in the countryside to ensure services and facilities such as schools, village stores and pubs can continue to operate.

“We have made huge improvements for tens of thousands of businesses and households, but the work does not stop here and we will continue to look at how we can introduce better connections for the remaining parts of the county.”

A Harrogate man asked a 13-year-old ‘girl’ for nude photos during online chats, a court heard.

Thomas Fryer, 36, contacted the ‘girl’ on a messenger app, not realising he was in fact chatting with an adult decoy who was working undercover to trap online predators.

Prosecutor Ashleigh Metcalfe told York Crown Court that a vigilante group called Keeping Kids Safe was behind the sting, which ended with a “confrontation” at Fryer’s home that was live-streamed on social media.

She said the volunteer decoy – a man who was named in court – set up a fake profile purporting to be a teenage girl.

Fryer made contact under the username ‘Tom Fryer 1’. On the ‘girl’s’ profile it said she was 19 years of age, but when he contacted her, she told him she was 13 years old.

Thus began a series of debauched chats on the Oasis and KIK apps, culminating in the “confrontation” at Fryer’s home where the vigilantes called in police.

Officers arrived on the scene and seized Fryer’s iPhone, which showed messages between him and the ‘girl’, including one in which he asked her if she “goes nude” and encouraged her to take naked photos of herself. Ms Metcalfe said:

‘She’ sent him two photos, whereupon Fryer called her a ‘cute girl’.”

He then asked ‘her’ if she had any photos of her young friend and if this girl was sexually active.

He then asked ‘her’:

“Why don’t you kiss your ‘bestie’ for the experience?”

In subsequent chats, he asked for more pictures from the ‘girl’ and told ‘her’:

“It’s probably better to keep this between you and me. Don’t tell anyone about the (pictures) LOL.”

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Ms Metcalfe said the chats occurred over a five-day period between May 28 and June 1, 2020.

Never been in trouble before

Fryer, of Dragon Parade, was quizzed by police but remained largely silent. However, he ultimately admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

They were charged as ‘attempts’ because the ‘girl’ was in fact an adult decoy.

Robert Mochrie, mitigating, said Fryer had never been in trouble before.

Judge Simon Hickey said it was better for Fryer to get the help he needed in the community rather than any custodial sentence.

Fryer was given an 18-month community order with a 40-day rehabilitation programme. He was also ordered to carry out 80 hours’ unpaid work.

He was placed on the sex-offenders’ register for five years and made subject to a five-year sexual-harm prevention order, mainly to curb his internet activities.

This article is sponsored by Boundless Networks

Boundless Networks’ Full Fibre internet will be available in Harrogate and Knaresborough very soon. Here’s why you need it, and how to get it with no hidden fees, no contract, and a FREE activation fee.

How to get Full Fibre internet from Boundless Networks

Yorkshire company Boundless Networks uses CityFibre’s newly-installed full fibre network to bring speed of light internet straight into your home. Cables are currently being installed across Harrogate and Knaresborough, with Ripon to follow in 2022, and the first Boundless customers’ homes will be connected next month.

Boundless’ no contract, no hidden fees and no nonsense packages are designed to pair the excellent user experience of Full Fibre with excellent customer service ratings. A Boundless customer is 358% more likely to recommend their services to a friend or colleague than other internet service providers*.

Most homes in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon will be able to access Full Fibre internet in the near future. When you sign up to with Boundless Networks there’s usually a £30 activation fee. But you can get that for free only if you pre-register now.

What is Full Fibre?

Fibre refers to the type of cable used in telecommunications infrastructure. Fibre cables transmit data at the speed of light, and the broadband is far more reliable than older networks.

Genuine Full Fibre internet uses fibre cables from the data centre or exchange, all the way into your home.

Some delivery methods, known as ‘fake fibre’, use a little bit of fibre up to a certain point to give their old networks a boost. But because fibre cables aren’t used the whole way from the exchange into your home, it can be susceptible to reliability issues. Some of the cables are the same kind that’s been used since the Victorian era, whilst others use old Cable TV (coax) networks, and your speed can vary depending on how far away from the street cabinet your home is.

Why you need Full Fibre

Full Fibre internet is capable of speeds far faster than what we need today. If you’re finding your regular broadband just isn’t keeping up with your household’s demand, Full Fibre is the way to go.

Here are some of the signs you need an upgrade to Full Fibre:

• You use lots of internet-connected devices like phones, games consoles, laptops, tablets and TVs
• Your internet speed drops when other family members are online at the same time
• You spend lots of time streaming TV shows and movies from sites or apps like Netflix
• You drop out of video calls because your connection is ‘poor’ or ‘unstable’
• You regularly download or send large files
• You use cloud online services to store data
• You spend ages waiting for your favourite game to download, or for your TV programmes to stop buffering

Pre-register for Boundless Networks’ Full Fibre internet, and claim your free activation here.

*Based on average Net Promoter Score data from Ofcom and SurveyMonkey data from September 2021.

This article is sponsored by CityFibre

Kim Johnston, Regional Partnership Manager for CityFibre in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon, answers some of the frequently asked questions regarding the full fibre roll out across the region.

What is CityFibre and what is it doing in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon?

CityFibre is on a mission to future-proof the UK’s connectivity from the ground up – literally! We’re building brand new digital communications infrastructure across the region, bringing the best available technology (full fibre) within reach of nearly every home and business.

This is a game-changer for the region as it will last for generations and help to drive the region’s growth now, enabling residents and businesses to benefit from ultra-fast internet speeds, while also unlocking a world of opportunities in the future.

This is all part of our up to £4 billion Gigabit City Investment Programme, which will see us bring full fibre within reach of up to 8 million homes and businesses across the UK by 2025.

What’s your role at CityFibre?

As a commercial lead in the region, I’m the main point of contact for local stakeholders and a key advocate of the many benefits that a full fibre network will bring to Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.

Right at the heart of what we are trying to achieve are the local communities we will serve. It’s also very important in my role to ensure the build progresses smoothly and that residents and businesses are kept updated every step of the way.

Why is full fibre different to what I’ve got already? 

The difference between full fibre and ‘regular’ fibre is significant, and even if you think you have ‘fibre broadband’ today, the chances are there’s copper in there somewhere holding you back. In fact, if your router connects to a normal telephone socket, then that’s what you’ve got.

Around 80% of UK homes still connect to the internet via networks built for telephones – copper networks designed to carry sound, not data. Our networks are designed specifically for the digital age and take 100% fibre optic technology all the way from the home to the point of connection.

Full fibre enables Gigabit speeds, reliable services and bandwidth that can grow as we need it. No more buffering when you’re trying to watch the latest Netflix series, a stable, reliable connection on Zoom calls and the family able to play on their consoles and computers simultaneously without any groans of ‘the broadband is down’.

What does Gigabit mean?

A standard broadband connection has an average download speed of around 6Mbps and ‘superfast broadband’ averages speeds of around 30Mbps.

Internet service providers (ISPs) that are offering broadband connections on our full fibre network can deliver colossal ‘Gigabit speeds’ of up to 1,000Mbps for both download and upload.

That’s over 30 times faster than a superfast connection!

Where are you working at the moment?

We are currently working in Knaresborough and Harrogate, with our build starting in Ripon in 2022.

You’ll be able to spot our teams in action in Knaresborough and Pannal in Harrogate and, before too long, we’ll have reached nearly every home and business locally.

How will I know when it’s coming to my area?

We use digital advertising and door knocking, where applicable, to inform residents of our plans, and we will post a letter through your door before construction is due to start in your street to let you know we are coming.

Read More: 

• Brilliantly fast full fibre broadband is coming to the Harrogate district

What do the works entail?

Most of the new full fibre network will be laid underground. This requires construction crews to dig trenches which can cause some disruption. However, the teams work quickly and should only be working outside each individual property for a couple of days, during which you may be asked to move your car or manoeuvre around barriers.

In some locations, existing telephone poles will be used to feed the cable to properties overhead, resulting in minimised disruption.

If you have any issues regarding access to your property or any questions regarding the build, please do speak to the build teams on-site who will be able to answer any questions.

How do I get it?

CityFibre doesn’t provide the end service to the customer, we only lay the fibre cable. Our networks are open access; currently in the area residents can purchase full fibre connections on our network via TalkTalk. A number of other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will be coming on board in the next month or two.

The easiest way to check if you can connect is to use the postcode checker on the CityFibre website. If it’s not available yet, you can register your interest and once works are complete, CityFibre will email you a list of available full fibre providers.

To be one of the first to get access to one of the fastest and most reliable broadband
services in the region, register your interest here!  

This article is sponsored by CityFibre. 

Harrogate, Ripon, and Knaresborough are set to benefit from a new gigabit network.

CityFibre is a name you’re likely to start hearing more in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon. As one of the largest UK-wide digital infrastructure builders, CityFibre is installing a full fibre broadband network that will bring gigabit speeds to homes and businesses across the district.

This is a game-changer, because full fibre is the fastest and most reliable broadband that exists – and CityFibre is one of the only companies doing it here. In fact, even if you think you have full fibre, you probably don’t, because while lots of providers use the terminology “fibre”, they often use copper cables underground, which means you’re actually using outdated and less reliable technology.

With CityFibre, “full fibre” really is full fibre; even the cable from the street to your home is fibre, so when you ask for a gigabit connection, you get a gigabit connection. And it’s not just speed. Full fibre broadband is up to five times more reliable than alternatives, there’s no such thing as “peak times” meaning it’s less likely to slow down when lots of people use it at the same time, at any time in the day, which is great news for busy homes with lots of devices trying to use the internet at the same time.

CityFibre’s full fibre broadband is up to five times more reliable than alternatives

In the UK, we’re now online for an average of 21.5 hours per week. From Teams and Zoom calls to internet banking, home schooling and gaming, it has become an essential part of our lives – and we’re always finding new ways to use it. With the latest technology, you can turn on your dishwasher, control your heating, or even do a load of washing, all through an app, so a good connection is needed to be able to cope with our everyday life requirements.

Some of us think of broadband in terms of download speeds, but what do those speeds mean? With a gigabit connection, you can download a high-definition film in less than a minute, or get a new video game, which can be over 100 gigabytes in size, in just 10 minutes. That’s fast. With CityFibre it’s not just download speeds that are fast, the upload speeds are equally as fast. You can upload photos, files, and videos in the blink of eye.

The full fibre infrastructure being put in the ground now will last for generations and help to power growth. They’re future-proofing the district’s connectivity, which means the cables they lay today will open up a world of opportunities in the future. It’s fantastic news for these areas, it will provide the fast, reliable connection needed to harness new technology and become smart towns and cities.

Work started in Harrogate and Knaresborough last year, with work beginning in Ripon later this year

This is a big project to bring world-class connectivity to all corners of Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon, connecting businesses and homes alike. Construction work started in Harrogate and Knaresborough last year, with more streets being built every day. The first connected homes in these towns will shortly be able to access the CityFibre network via multiple internet service providers, with work commencing on a new full fibre network in Ripon later this year.

So how do you get it? CityFibre don’t sell directly to the public, they make their network available to a range of providers like TalkTalk and Vodafone. They have, however, made it easy for you to check if your home is already connected to their network. Their postcode checker will tell you if it’s available, if it’s being installed or if it’s in the pipeline. And if it’s not available yet, you can register your interest to find out when it will be.