South Yorkshire residential customers and businesses are to receive next-generation network access, with a minimum download rate of 25Mbit/s, together with a quality of service guarantee.

The regional development agency Yorkshire Forward will manage the Digital Region project, a public sector-led broadband infrastructure initiative, partnering with Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield local authorities. European, regional, local and private investment of more than £90m has been secured.

Digital Region will provide IP-based services to 1.3 million citizens, 546,000
homes and 40,000 businesses. Yorkshire Forward finance executive director Trevor Shaw said the project would ensure that Yorkshire and Humber is at the forefront of digital technologies especially in the light of the current economic climate.

"Businesses in South Yorkshire will be able to increase their competitiveness, develop new products and business models and use IT in a variety of different ways as a result of this initiative – something we can be proud of as a catalyst for this project,” said Shaw.

The team chosen to build manage and operate the network includes IT services provider Thales UK, network vendor Alcatel-Lucent, and KCOM - formerly Kingston Communications, and once the only residential phone service provider outside BT.

The technology used in the rollout will be fibre to the cabinet (FTTC), and then very high-speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) technology over copper into residences and businesses. The service will provide guaranteed bandwidth and a quality able to support the delivery of new services such as telemedicine.

The rollout will see the first homes able to take up services during 2010 in Doncaster, also the location of the network operations centre. Connection to the network will be available through a range of local, national and regional ISPs.