FACTCO Brings FTTP Broadband to Northumberland UK Village

Some 400 properties (homes and businesses) in the Northumberland coastal village of Cambois are set to gain access to a 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network, which is thanks to a new partnership between the council-run iNorthumberland project and UK ISP FACTCO (Ecodial).

Until recently FACTCO has tended to focus on bringing FTTP broadband to businesses. For example, the operator last year helped to deploy a full fibre network down the Shambles street in the city of York (here) and earlier this year they extended 10Gbps capable connectivity across Liverpool’s (Merseyside) Baltic Triangle area (here). On top of that they’ve also built some fibre around parts of Newcastle and Northumberland.

However last month the provider revealed a new plan that will see them expand their “full fibre” network to “serve predominantly rural areas” in Wales, as well as more of northern England and Scotland (here). At the time they said the plan was to “serve homes and businesses,” which suggested that they’d be going beyond their business connectivity roots.

Today’s news thus represents one of the first areas to benefit from that expansion, with FACTCO looking to extend full fibre to “everyone in the community” of Cambois. The ISP also intends to offer a special connectivity package for job seekers in the area, which is due to be announced in the near future.

Cllr Nick Oliver, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, said:

“Cambois is an area that needs a connection to meet its full potential. FACTCO’s gigabit-capable network will allow the community to improve access to public services such as virtual GP appointments and online shopping.

We are working closely with the community and businesses to make them aware of this funding opportunity to improve their broadband speeds. I encourage anyone from Cambois to get in touch to take advantage of this scheme.”

Lee Murphy, MD of FACTCO, said:

“We’ve been working hard behind the scenes, preparing to connect the community of Cambois. It’s an exciting time for our team – the projects we’re taking on are ones that a lot of providers would turn away from. We’re ready to take on the challenge and dedicated to bridge the digital gap for these communities.

Working together with iNorthumberland part of Northumberland County Council, we’re keen to use this as a framework that we can replicate throughout the North East, as a registered supplier for the DCMS we will be able to deliver these projects again and again. Helping us all to work towards a full-fibre Britain.”

The FACTCO team have partnered with Farrans and will be running community drop-in events and raising awareness to those who currently reside in Cambois (as and when the national guidelines allow for mass gatherings to resume) to make them aware of the funding that is available and their roll-out plans.

Apparently this deployment is also being supported by the Government’s gigabit broadband voucher scheme via the £200m Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme, which was recently given a £22m top-up in certain areas (here).

Assuming all goes to plan then the ISP hopes to complete this build by “early” 2021 and they’ll be contacting locals “in the coming weeks to sign them up to the scheme.” If you’re living or working in the area and you would like to register your interest in the project or you have any questions, please contact the FACTCO team directly on 0333 305 7560, email hello@factco.co.uk or visit www.factco.co.uk/cambois to register your interest.

Residential customers can expect to pay from just £24.99 per month on a 12-month term for a 100Mbps connection, which rises to £44.99 for 1000Mbps with free installation.