BT Scoops £13m Northumberland UK Full Fibre Rollout Contract

The North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA), which represents Newcastle, North Tyneside (Tyne and Wear) and Northumberland, has announced that BT have secured the contract to deploy a new gigabit-capable “full fibre” broadband and Ethernet network to help connect 271 public sector sites (council offices, libraries, NHS etc.).

The original proposal for the Northumberland Gigabit Project actually envisaged a much larger project to connect as many as 900 public buildings (here), although it appears as if the final agreement has been scaled-back. Likewise, there’s no mention this time around of the local authorities’ match-funding with the £12m that will be coming from the UK Government’s Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) fund.

However, the Council have agreed to put forward a further £932,111 of funding towards the programme, which will be delivered via BT’s Enterprise division (Openreach). The first street works are said to have already begun and, if all goes to plan, then they should be completed by early 2022.

Cllr Nick Oliver said:

“This is an exciting upgrade to our infrastructure in the county, providing rural Northumberland with better connectivity than many city centres.

Work has already begun to bring high-speed, affordable and reliable connectivity to our businesses and residents, which is crucial in maintaining our economic competitiveness and achieving social inclusion, now more than ever.”

Sarah Walker, BT Director for Enterprise, said:

“Our world-class full fibre network will help transform Northumberland’s digital connectivity potential.

We will provide ultrafast broadband speeds that will enable faster and more reliable connections for people across the county. We are pleased to be supporting Northumberland County Council’s digital ambitions and it is among the leading areas in the UK to take advantage of the opportunities full fibre networks will provide.

Digital technology is transforming every element of the way we live. In a world where everyday life and work increasingly depend on technology, digital skills can be the difference between getting ahead, or being left behind.”

The primary focus of this project was previously said to be on improving connectivity to sites in rural areas, which further down the road might also provide a useful platform to help roll-out Gigabit speed broadband ISP connectivity to more homes and businesses. We normally see operator’s like Cityfibre scoop up these anchor tenancy style contracts, but BT have won a few of them too and now they’ve added another one to their belt.