SMALL digital companies in the North-East will be able to compete with major international firms now a publiclyfunded project to provide access to superfast broadband is up and running.
The NorthernNet project is giving small digital businesses that could not afford 100mg broadband a platform to compete with bigger rivals.
With most companies running on 4mg broadband, the difference could be between 1GB files taking a whole night to send or less than two minutes.
It will give digital and creative companies and freelancers access to software and download or upload speeds which have only been available to major international companies.
A spokeswoman said: “It is helping companies compete with the big boys. A lot of these smaller companies don’t have access to superfast technology.” The project is funded by regional development agencies One North East and Yorkshire Forward.
Companies can access the service at four outlets in the North-East, including Boho One, in Middlesbrough, the £10m building at the centre of the Digital City project.
It offers development space for technology companies, encouraging the region’s brightest young digital minds to stay in Tees Valley.
Other centres involved include Sunderland’s NE Business and Innovation Centre and the Northern Film and Media Centre and Tyneside Cinema, in Newcastle.
Access to the system is on a pay as you go basis, at £60 an hour.
Herb Kim, chief executive at Codeworks, the delivery partner for NorthernNet in the North-East, said: “In the North-East, the digital and creative sector is critical to our region’s economy.
“High-speed connectivity is of fundamental importance if we want to compete on a global level and NorthernNet ensures that the North-East has every chance to remain competitive with other major knowledge centres.
“NorthernNet also brings a great new opportunity for digital firms across the North to collaborate and innovate in a way previously unavailable to them.”
Creative and digital industries in the North-East employ more than 35,000 people.
To find out more about NorthernNet, or to book a session, go to northernnet.co.uk
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