By William Coleman
A Kent-based broadband company has netted themselves a fantastic contract to provide thousands of caravaners and holidaymakers high-speed on-site broadband.
Nowadays having access to the internet is an essential part of day-to-day life, especially if you are out exploring or have the kids with you on holiday. We have found our way out of being totally lost thanks to a smartphone with internet access and we have discovered some amazing hidden local gems thanks to a quick bit Googling.
There was a time when the internet on-site was very much not needed and was not the best, but as times and demands change so must the services provided by holiday companies.
It was only five or so years ago that we had to take a box of DVDs with us to ensure some evening entertainment, especially on days with unpleasant weather conditions. Now, with an internet connection, you can stream thousands of films and TV shows instantly with the click of a button.
Seeing the ever-growing demand for good quality broadband, Park Holidays UK will be adding super-speed Wi-Fi to its sites thanks to Canterbury-based Orbital Internet Group.
This new move marks another multi-pound site investment made by Park Holidays UK this year. The holiday company is one of the largest park groups in the UK, so it will be quite an undertaking adding the internet to so many sites within its network.
To ensure all visitors have access to the internet, Orbital will be installing private routers in each of the firm’s holiday properties. Darren Brown, Orbital’s communications specialist has said: “Nobody wants to put up with slow broadband on holiday, but many British parks are based in areas where people struggle with slow download speeds”.
Park Holidays UK says the project, which is due for completion early next year, will give it a huge competitive edge for wooing families to its 31 seaside holiday parks.
“The traditional approach of transmitting Wi-Fi across the park is rarely successful as holiday homes are often well insulated and resist the penetration of the signals.
“By connecting each unit to fibre broadband, guests can stream Netflix movies or FaceTime their friends without the irritation of constant buffering,” continued Darren.
This will not be your typical everyday broadband service. The technology that will be installed was developed by Orbital and will mix fibre optic cabling and high-speed WiMax wireless broadband to ensure constant high speeds, even during peak usage times.
Each connection will provide 330MB of speed to every holiday unit where they are installed. That will be more than enough to have everyone connected and streaming at the same time. The technology has also been future-proofed to ensure if and when speeds increase, holidaymakers will see the benefits.
Is good quality broadband something you look for when booking a site? A lot of people may see this as a non-essential due to touring holidays being more about getting out and exploring, not sitting on the sofa watching films. We feel it just strengthens the appeal of sites to younger people and will make how we tour that much easier.
