Gigaclear to Extend 1Gb Fibre Cover in Rural Northamptonshire

The state aid supported Superfast Northamptonshire (SFN) project has announced that UK ISP Gigaclear’s current roll-out contract (Phase 3) has been extended, which will see the provider build their new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to 700 more rural premises than planned.

As we recall, the original Phase 3 contract with Gigaclear aimed to provide broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps to over 6,336 premises by the end of March 2019, although this completion date was later delayed by some of the ISPs earlier problems with planning and resources (here). On top of that they had a big commercial rollout in the area, which was expected to take their total coverage to around 25,000 premises.

Under the updated plan Gigaclear will now reach an additional 700 premises in rural areas, which gives them a total contracted roll-out of 7,000 premises. When combined with the provider’s  separate commercial plans in the county, it’s now expected that as many as 30,000 homes and businesses in rural Northamptonshire will gain access to gigabit “full fibre” connectivity.

The communities set to benefit from this extension include parts of Blatherwycke, Braunston, Flore, Grafton Underwood, Nether Heyford, Oundle, Silverstone, Stanwick, and Upper Heyford.

Jason Smithers, Cabinet Member for Highways and Place, says:

“This extension of our plans with Gigaclear will bring massive connectivity benefits to more people, young and old, living and running businesses in rural Northamptonshire. Poor networks in these areas are a massive frustration to many. Our investment in full fibre networks will ensure that we not only address the data demands of today but can also meet those of tomorrow.”

Catherine Warren, Manager for the East Midlands at Gigaclear, added:

“We’ve already helped to bring full-fibre coverage in Northamptonshire to over 14 percent and we’re really pleased to be expanding our network in the county. COVID-19 has highlighted just how vital ultrafast connectivity is to modern life, which is why we’re determined to reach communities left behind by other providers.

Connecting rural areas to ultrafast internet isn’t easy and there are plenty of civil engineering challenges to overcome, but the end result is worth it. The extra homes and businesses set to be connected to our network have been suffering from internet speeds as slow as 1Mbps, making even simple online activities impossible. We’ll be providing speeds of up to 1Gbps – as fast as the internet in Silicon Valley.”

The past and present funding for this full fibre deployment work is a combination of public and private investment, totalling £15.7m. This includes a £4.5m contribution from Northamptonshire County Council, £2m from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (managed by Defra’s Rural Payments Agency), £3.5m from Building Digital UK (BDUK) and over £5.7m from Gigaclear itself.

At the last check in March 2020, Gigaclear had already delivered 3,150 premises under their Phase 3 contract, which was expected to complete by March 2021, although we note on the project’s website that some locations will not now be done until Q3 and Q4 2021 (e.g. Ashton Wold is the most delayed). Meanwhile the delivery time-scales for today’s extension have yet to be confirmed.

Naturally there will be more funding for future improvements to come, once the UK Government has set out precisely how they intend to invest £5bn in order to boost gigabit-capable broadband across the final 20% of hardest to reach premises.