Northumberland UK Name First BDUK Fibre Broadband Rollout Areas

The £18.9 million iNorthumberland project, which aims to expand the coverage of BT’s “fibre broadband” (25Mbps+) FTTC/P network to 95% of local premises by early 2016 (note: only 91% will get “superfast” speeds of 25Mbps+), has named the first communities to benefit.

The first premises officially went live yesterday, under Phase 1 of the deployment, in Alnmouth and Lesbury. Some 10,000 homes and businesses in the area are expected to gain access to the new service by Summer 2014.

A full list of the initial roll-out areas can be found below and more are due to be announced later this year.

Phase 1 Coverage – iNorthumberland

Alnmouth
Lesbury
Widdrington
Lynemouth
Red Row
Seahouses
Shilbottle

Overall the project, which will require BT to lay 660km of new fibre optic cable across the county, currently claims to be running three months ahead of schedule. It’s worth noting that BT’s contribution to the scheme is only £2.9 million, which is well below the £7m committed by NCC and £7m from BDUK (not to mention £2m from the ERDF).