Liverpool based ISP, the Fibre & Communication Technology Company (FACTCO) has successfully designed, built, installed a new fibre network at Baltic Creative CIC’s five sites. Tony McDonough reports

More than 180 digital and creative businesses in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle will now have access to an ultra-fast 10 Gbps capable broadband connection.

Liverpool based ISP, the Fibre & Communication Technology Company (FACTCO) has successfully designed, built, installed and is now supporting a full fibre network that delivers the fast connection to tenants of Baltic Creative CIC.

FACTCO has supported Baltic Creative CIC by facilitating the funding for the businesses in their buildings with a new full fibre network across their estate, which currently spans five sites.

The businesses within Baltic Creative created a Community Fibre Project to utilise the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which is provided by The Department for Digital, Culture Media & Sport (DCMS).

The funding from DCMS has allowed FACTCO, a local independent ISP, to invest in the latest technology and internet service, that would ordinarily cost tens of thousands of pounds.

As a result, they have designed a bespoke connection that the businesses in Baltic Creative have complete control over – a connection that provides 1,000 Mbps up and down for the 180-plus companies and their 600-strong workforce.

Mark Lawler, managing director at Baltic Creative CIC, said: “We currently house more than 180 creative and digital businesses across our estate and it’s absolutely vital to them, that we have the most efficient and quality service of internet.

“The installation of this new connection has been a large and complex job for FACTCO and even when their team has been presented with challenges along the way, they have gone above and beyond to provide support ensuring that our service has remained unscathed.”

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During the process FACTCO’s technical challenge was to ensure that all businesses in the Baltic Creative buildings remained on the same network and that the connection throughout the process was reliable, quick and provided minimum disruption.

Organisations such as Baltic Creative CIC rely heavily on grants, funding and outside support in order to flourish. FACTCO has helped improve and secure Baltic Creatives’ tenant’s connectivity for many years to come.

Mr Lawler added: “The funding we received from DCMS has been immeasurable. As a CIC we require this kind of support so that we can concentrate on giving back to the creative and digital community we exist to serve.

“We have big plans to expand across the Liverpool city region in the next few years and, by working with FACTCO in establishing this type of infrastructure, we can grow confidently knowing that our internet connection is safeguarded for the business community.”

Through the new connection, Baltic Creative CIC  and the businesses they support have the option to upgrade to a 10 Gbps connection – a connection that will allow the digital and creative sector which they support to develop without any setbacks due to limited bandwidth. 

Lee Murphy, managing director of FACTCO, added: “Delivering a service such as this to Baltic Creative CIC and the businesses they support is what we specialise in. FACTCO utilises the funding from DCMS to allow us to deliver projects like this and improve SME connectivity.