Boundless Networks saves the day for Tour de Yorkshire HQ

City of York Council contacted Boundless Networks saying that there was an urgent need for high-speed internet access at the Yorkshire Air Museum & Allied Air Forces Memorial at Elvington, York, as it was the desired location for the Tour de Yorkshire Headquarters and Communications Centre for the event taking place 29th April – 1st May and featuring a host of top cyclists, including Sir Bradley Wiggins and Lizzie Armitstead. Without high-speed internet access it just could not do this and another location would have had to be found.

“We were delighted when City of York Council put us in touch with Boundless Networks and that the company was able to deliver the high-speed wireless technology we required to allow the Tour de Yorkshire HQ and Comms Centre to be located here for the week,” said Ian Reed, Director of the Yorkshire Air Museum & Allied Air Forces Memorial.

“We are an historic war-time site, with a unique “French Connection”, and it can be difficult to get high-speed internet access to such rural areas, but Boundless Networks has really saved the day for us, allowing us to help facilitate this magnificent event in Yorkshire. The legacy of this will be that the site will continue to benefit from high-speed internet access after the event; a real bonus for us and visitors to increase our social media platforms.”

The Operations Room and International Press Office; home to more than 40 international journalists, for the Tour de Yorkshire will be based at the Elvington site, as well as all the pre-race media being held there, so it was crucial that high-speed internet access was in place.

Managing Director of Boundless Networks, David Burns, said: “Boundless Networks is delighted to have helped secure the Tour de Yorkshire HQ and Communications Centre for the Yorkshire Air Museum. Our wireless services, providing speeds from 10Mbps to 1Gbps, offer coast-to-coast wireless coverage across the North of England and is the perfect choice for rural areas such as Elvington.”

Elvington’s French Connection.

From May 1944, RAF Elvington, on which the Yorkshire Air Museum is based, became home to the only two French Squadrons to serve with RAF Bomber Command. Over 2300 French personnel were stationed here until October 1945. The two Squadrons were 346 “Guyenne” Squadron and 347 “Tunisie” Squadron.

The Museum organised a large part of the events in the City of York during the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in July 2014 and took part in the lead Peleton for the final stage in Central Paris that year.

In May 2015, ASO utilised our site for the parc fermé for all the support vehicles for the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire, which is also happening again this year, as the cars are branded for the event. ASO staff enjoyed working from here, hence their request to utilise our facilities further in 2016.