Dundee City Council
Connecting a city, the fast way
When lottery funding made it possible for Dundee City Council to
improve their public computer and internet facilities, this forward
thinking council was committed to the project’s long-term success.
But with a tight deadline to meet and a city centre to negotiate,
nothing but the most careful planning would do.
Well aware that their library-based internet service was running
at full capacity, Dundee City Council’s IT department was pleased
for an opportunity to upgrade it. The lottery-funded People’s
Network project would allow the Council to increase bandwidth and
make the internet more accessible to residents – both now and over
the years to come.
A coordinated strategy to upgrade bandwidth to 10Mb was the
solution from ntl:Telewest Business. And with meticulous planning
and proactive account management, the new system was delivered
right on time.
Inclusive access, now and into the future
Serving 145,000 residents, Dundee City Council is dedicated to
helping its residents use communications to make Dundee a city
that’s going places. In line with its Social Inclusion policy, the
Council wanted to establish a network of free public access
terminals, located in Dundee’s libraries and council buildings.
A future-proof approach
Access to the lottery-funded People’s Network project gave
Dundee City Council the finance they needed, and increasing
bandwidth was the main priority "We’d had 1 and 2Mb circuits
connecting our libraries for several years, but were finding that
the system was up to full capacity," a Council spokesperson
explains. "We’d developed a good working relationship with
ntl:Telewest Business over the years, and with the opportunity to
upgrade, it was natural to turn to them for our connectivity
requirements."
Presented with this opportunity, Dundee City Council wanted a
solution that would stand the test of time. Although the People’s
Network only requires 2Mb, the Council decided that 10Mb would be
better long-term. "Public demand for online services and the
transfer of data is only going to increase, so it was logical to
apply a wider bandwidth," says a Council spokesperson.
Beating tough challenges to meet a tight
deadline
With 36km of fibre to be installed in and around Dundee’s busy
city centre, we carefully coordinated construction teams, planning
departments and engineers to make sure that the installation ran
smoothly – and met the Council’s strict deadline.
Delivery of the ntl:Telewest Business solution was crucial, and
the Council was happy with how the project was implemented.
"ntl:Telewest Business did a good job to deliver the project in a
very tight deadline," comments a Council spokesperson, "Meeting the
deadline was crucial as the funding organisation required all
spending to be complete by the end of the financial year."
The ideal design for an online community
Working closely with Dundee City Council, our consultants
created a solution that met the Council’s objectives to give the
public improved internet access. "The new circuits are actually
more cost effective than the old connections because they are
designed to provide dedicated support for data traffic," confirms a
Council spokesperson. "We are gaining more bandwidth, more speed
and flexibility without incurring extra costs."
What it has made possible
For the people of Dundee, gaining public access to the internet
is now much easier, with 18 sites across the city connecting them
to the People’s Network. Thousands of people use the service in
many different ways – from supporting school work, to improving job
prospects and shopping online.
Monitoring demand from Dundee’s residents, the Council is
satisfied. "The public response to the People’s Network of more
than 6,000 internet bookings a week is a real measure of public
demand and of the project’s success," concludes a Council
spokesperson. "ntl:Telewest Business enables us to support this
level of traffic, and by linking the libraries together we have, in
effect, created a Local Area Network across Dundee."