LightSpeed Derby Campaign Benefits Creative Industries
LightSpeed Derby is a new campaign aiming to bring super fast broadband to the businesses and residents of Derby which will particularly benefit the city’s growing creative industries.
It aims to attract broadband providers such as BT Openreach, Virgin Media and other infrastructure providers by showing them that the people and businesses of Derby are ready and waiting to update their resources.
These higher speeds – up to 100Mb/s compared to a current average of between 2 and 4 Mb/s – are being implemented area by area on a geographical level, and Light Speed is campaigning for us to be one of the first cities to benefit.
Chair of LightSpeed Derby Graham Bennett explained: “Faster broadband would allow businesses to fully maximise their internet potential, and generally help increase the reliability of day to day tasks.
“Maintaining websites, sending pictures and videos, video conferencing and online storage are just some of the benefits and are issues that obviously creative businesses depend on greatly and that faster broadband would improve considerably.
“Home users would also benefit from the upgrade with quicker and easier browsing making video and music streaming and downloading so much faster and of course it will hugely benefit the interaction between home and office – making it easier to work remotely which is another common working practice in the creative industries.
“The big telecoms companies are willing to provide superfast broadband to areas where it’s evident there’s a significant interest and therefore lots of potential customers, which is why LightSpeed Derby is appealing for people to make their needs heard.”
Friar Gate Studios tenant Filomena Rodriguez, of Filomena Rodriguez Consulting, is enthusiastic about the campaign. “Fast broadband speeds are the foundation behind managing the capacity of data that is being produced and transmitted, downloaded and streamed, utilised and enjoyed. The growth in technology is impacting on all industries – health, leisure, education, advertising and arts to name a few. It’s essential that the digital infrastructure meets demands for the UK to stay active and buoyant as an enterprising and creative nation.”
She is aware of particular problems the creative businesses she works alongside will face without the best services available to them, as well as the benefits updated services will bring. “As we see new emerging markets develop in the digital arena, particularly in the form of 3D technology, the constantly improving infrastructure is the equivalent of the development of roads and routes to market. Without it we will lag behind and become disadvantaged.”
To do your bit to bring Derby up to speed or read more about the campaign, please head to the website at www.lightspeedderby.com and take a minute to enter your details and register your support – which you can do as a business and/or as a home user, as applicable to your circumstances. Please also encourage your colleagues, friends and neighbours to do likewise.