Business review

Our KC brand provides a range of communications services to businesses and consumers throughout Hull and East Yorkshire.

KC’s residential customers benefit from Britain’s best-value call package, with local calls free of charge all day, every day. Residential customers can choose also from seven Karoo broadband packages with a range of download allowances to suit the needs of every type of household, including the UK’s first off-peak broadband service aimed at light users.

For Hull and East Yorkshire businesses, our KC brand continues to deliver communications services including phone, broadband and ethernet connectivity, internet security and web hosting, all with business-standard service level agreements that guarantee fast response and fix times. The launch of a hosted Voice over IP service during the year offers local businesses of all sizes a flexible, future-proof telephone system.

During the year, our KC brand has achieved market-leading growth among fixed line operators, driven primarily by the uptake of our bundled services and broadband.

We continue to invest in and improve the performance of our broadband network. In March 2012 we achieved universal coverage of minimum 2Mbps broadband speeds across our KC network, three years ahead of the Government’s 2015 deadline for this milestone for the UK as a whole.

Average Karoo broadband speeds improved over the year from 6.4Mbps to 9.4Mbps. Progress in the delivery of an improved broadband customer experience has led also to an ISPA award this year for customer service across our consumer internet products.

The launch of our KC Lightstream services marks a new era of broadband service provision, delivering download speeds of 100Mbps. During 2012, we will make them available to 15,000 homes and businesses.

What we’re doing:

In early 2012, the Group began a deployment of fibre to consumers and businesses across areas of Hull and East Yorkshire, launching a new lightening-fast fibre optic broadband service. An important strategic programme, the roll-out of these fibre based services underpins our future growth ambitions for our KC brand. By December 2012, the initial phase of the roll-out will reach 15,000 homes and businesses, giving Hull and East Yorkshire the fastest broadband in the UK.

Until now, our KC broadband services were delivered to customers and businesses via traditional copper cables. Our investment in fibre optic cables, which are connected directly to a customer’s premises delivers download speeds of 100Mbps, thereby transforming our customers’ online experience.

Danny

KC

InterTech takes a giant leap forward with KC Lightstream

Hull-based InterTech specialises in architectural and commercial design for professional businesses. During the past two decades, design technology has evolved to give InterTech the capability to create 3D images that allow clients to visualise the look, functionality and efficiency of a new building before any cost commitments are made. However, InterTech’s internet connection at its head office in Hull couldn’t cope with the growing demands of the business and was constraining severely its ability to operate.

What we did

We installed KC Lightstream Business broadband at InterTech’s head office, transforming immediately its operations. Since installation, InterTech’s project managers can each send and receive around 100 emails per day, many with extremely large attachments such as 3D images, CAD drawings, videos and graphic design files. Files that used to take hours to download can now be opened in minutes. Users get a 10Mbps upload speed which has completely transformed InterTech’s ability to send large files to clients.

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What they said

“To say that we noticed an immediate improvement is an understatement. Now we’ve got fibre, we are much better placed to take advantage of future technologies and upgrades as and when they come along. KC Lightstream has undoubtedly made us much faster and more efficient.”

Dan

InterTech