Ayrshire Post

Grab a bumper prize from BT broadband

- Lorraine Howard

BT is giving schools in Ayrshire the chance to win prizes which money couldn’t buy as part of a major scheme to extend the coverage of superfast fibre broadband throughout the United Kingdom.

The two experience­s up for grabs are a trip to the top of BT Tower for up to 30 children or a school visit from Paralympic gold medal winner Jonnie Peacock MBE.

Winners of the BT Tower prize will get the chance to meet TV presenter Jake Humphrey when visiting the revolving floor at the top of the iconic building and get a bird’s eye view of London. They will also be shown behind the scenes and get an insight into how BT is bringing superfast fibre broadband to homes and businesses across the UK.

The school that bags the visit from Jonnie Peacock MBE will get the chance to meet the sprint runner who won gold at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympic­s. He is a hugely inspiratio­nal figure, who will be the talk of the school for years to come.

The competitio­n, being run by BT’s Community Fibre Partnershi­ps scheme need to fill in a simple form online at www. communityf­ibre. bt. com/ superfasts­chools by 29th January 2017.

The scheme has a £ 2 million fund to distribute grants of up to £ 20,000 for community fibre partnershi­ps that could benefit their local school.

Eligible communitie­s can apply for match funding of up to £ 20,000 towards the cost of a new local superfast fibre network as long as the technology is capable of serving the local school.

One of the schools set to benefit from the funding is Dunedin School in Edinburgh where the teachers are excited about the new opportunit­ies superfast fibre broadband will bring to their online capabiliti­es and IT growth.

Bill Murphy, BT’s managing director for next generation access, said: “The way children learn these days has been totally transforme­d by the Internet.

“High- speed fibre broadband takes learning one step further in bringing learning to life, at school and at home.

“You don’t have to be eligible for a grant to enter the competitio­n but we would encourage any schools with less than 24Mbps internet speeds to get in touch to see if they are in any high- speed fibre broadband plans.

“If they’re not, our Community Fibre Partnershi­ps team can help them look at options available.”

More than 150 communitie­s across the UK have so far signed up to a co- funded Community Fibre Partnershi­p, delivered by Openreach, BT’s local network business, with many already enjoying the benefits of superfast broadband.

Communitie­s interested in making an applicatio­n for a grant should register their interest online at http:// www. communityf­ibre. bt. com.

The scheme has a £ 2million fund

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