Leicestershire Gets £1.55m to Connect 43 Public Sites to Gigabit Broadband
The Leicestershire County Council (LCC) in England has secured £1.55m of public funding from the UK government’s £5bn Project Gigabit programme in order to help it connect 43 public sectors sites (e.g. schools, council offices etc.) in rural areas to a new gigabit-capable full fibre broadband and Ethernet network.
The GigaHubs deployment contract, which appears to have been awarded to BT’s Enterprise and Public Sector division (we expect Openreach will probably build it), typically involves the deployment of new Dark Fibre style connectivity to public sector sites. But such projects may have wider benefits.
In this approach, the council acts as a sort of anchor tenant for the new fibre optic infrastructure, which could later also be harnessed to help “properties in the surrounding area be more commercially attractive to broadband suppliers“. But doing that would require additional private investment from ISPs and network builders, which tends to come later – assuming there’s a demand for it from suppliers.
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Councillor Pam Posnett said:
“The GigaHubs programme will really benefit our rural communities. Residents in rural areas will be able to benefit from greater broadband speeds, helping families, businesses and people working from home.
We’ve already delivered superfast broadband to more than 75,000 premises, taking the total to 97 per cent within the county, but championing GigaHubs means we can push on.”
Darren Butterick, BT Enterprise and Public Sector Director, said:
“Gigabit connectivity will transform the way people connect, interact and do business for years to come. This future-proofed infrastructure is a once in a generation enhancement and will play a significant role in making sure rural parts of Leicestershire feel the significant benefits that full fibre connectivity brings with it.
We are proud to be part of this project which will also help bolster the services offered from some of the area’s key community hubs.”
The build phase of this project is due to start before the end of 2022 and aims to complete by the end of 2024. Interestingly the press release states that “once each site has been updated, residents will be able to sign up to fibre community vouchers with local suppliers to bring gigabit-capable broadband to more properties in the area,” which we assume is a reference to the wider Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS).
The GBVS is already open for applications (unless the area is still under a temporary suspension due to market reviews) and does not rely upon the completion of the aforementioned project. But the availability of a new fibre infrastructure may certainly help if there are no other alternatives in the same location for capacity.
The 43 “Confirmed” GigaHub Locations
Ab Kettleby Primary School
Asfordby Hill Primary School
Fleckney C Of E Primary School
Great Dalby School
Harby C Of E Primary School
Long Clawson C Of E Primary School
Meadowdale Primary School
Old Dalby C Of E Primary School
Somerby Primary School
St Andrews C Of E Primary School Academy
Waltham On the Wolds C Of E Primary School
Fleckney Library
Highways Foxton
Kibworth Recycling and Household Waste Site
Market Harborough Recycling and Household Waste Site
Croft C Of E Primary School
Desford Community Primary School
Dunton Bassett Primary School
Lutterworth High School
Manorfield C Of E Primary School
Newbold Verdon Primary School
Sharnford C Of E Primary School
Sherrier C Of E Primary School
Swinford C Of E Primary School
Ullesthorpe C Of E Primary School
Desford Library
Lutterworth Library
Sapcote Library
Stoney Stanton Library
Croft County Council office
Lutterworth Recycling and Household Waste Site
Barlestone CE Primary
Congerstone Primary School
Higham On the Hill C Of E Primary School
Seagrave Village Primary School
Sheepy Magna C Of E Primary School
St Peters C Of E Primary School Mkt Bosworth
Stanton Under Bardon Community Primary School
The Market Bosworth School
Witherley C Of E Primary School
Market Bosworth Library
Sileby Library
Nailstone Depot
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Hasn’t this happened in Wales? Wasn’t it a mess that won’t be repeated again?
I think you might be confusing this with something else? The GigaHub’s stuff is just an extension of the Local Full Fibre Networks programme, which has been running for years to help bring gigabit broadband to UK public sector sites and making it easier for network suppliers to connect nearby homes/businesses via private investment.
I wonder what this “new gigabit-capable full fibre broadband and Ethernet network” will actually look like. Is it PON-based FTTP, or is it just leased lines?
£1.55m works out at £1,000 per month over 3 years, or £600 per month over 5 years, for each of the 43 sites. If this is a network of leased lines, then the benefit to the wider community is minimal.
The funding covers the build, not the rental. But annoyingly, these releases never go into much detail about the exact product / line being deployed, so I’m covering my bases a bit by saying both broadband and Ethernet 🙂 .
Interesting to watch the build time/progress. Living in one of the locations where some schools and library are covered as Openreach and Fibre Heroes look to have build plans by end 2024 also. Hope the public money is being well spent!!
This explains why Openreach are currently running fibre down to Waste and Recycling centre in Market Harborough. I couldn’t originally understand why they were doing that as not that large site and wouldn’t imagine much data use along with no other business around it apart from a couple of car mechanics .
From what I have seen on this build it’s a FTTP PON based setup as they are putting the standard splitter and CBTs into the ground .
Wow! It’s one of the rarest articles on here, one about Leicestershire!
My thoughts exactly! It’s rare for Leicestershire to get any broadband infrastructure development, especially for the rural areas.