Broadband ISP Quickline (part of the Bigblu group) has started to rollout a new 100Mbps+ capable broadband network across 1,500 rural homes and businesses in North Lincolnshire (England), which follows last year’s award of a new £1.8m state aid supported contract by North Lincolnshire Council (NLC).
The work, which is now underway, will see the ISP expand the coverage of their latest Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and “full fibre” (FTTP) network to help upgrade communities that still cannot access a “superfast broadband” speed of 30Mbps+. Indeed, the provider already has a wireless broadband network in the area, which should help.
The latest update states that Quickline should be able to connect (live) their first premises under this contract in the “coming months” and the entire deployment is then due to be completed by the “end of summer 2022.”
The Building Digital UK based contract is supported by an investment of £1m from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), as well as £400k from Quickline and another £400k from the NLC. You can see a visualisation of the rollout plan below and more details are due to be made available via the NLC website soon.
In addition to this rollout, NLC also claims to have “ambitious plans to provide fast, reliable, future-proof gigabit capable provision across the area.”
Steve Jagger, CEO of Quickline Communications, said:
“We are thrilled to be working alongside North Lincolnshire Council to rollout broadband with download speeds of over 100mbps. We share their ambitions to see communities connected – everyone should have access to high-speed internet no matter where they live or work.
This year, more than ever, we have seen how important internet access is, giving people the ability to work remotely and to stay in touch with family and friends, reducing isolation for many.”
Rob Waltham, Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said:
“Already, the council and telecoms companies have worked hard to ensure that over 95 per cent of homes and businesses in North Lincolnshire have access to superfast broadband but our ambitions do not stop there.
This new investment will ensure that even more people, many in rural areas of North Lincolnshire, will be able to access download speeds of over 100mbps.
Access to fast, reliable broadband has never been as important as it is now and this will make a huge difference to the way people learn, access services and remain connected across communities.
The faster speeds will also be crucial for our businesses, helping them compete in the global marketplace as we continue to grow the local economy.
I would urge businesses and residents to take advantage of the faster speeds and better connectivity.”
In addition to all this, Quickline was selected by the DCMS in February 2020 to lead a £6m 5G project to boost rural connectivity in North Yorkshire. The operator has previously also said that they see scope to target 100,000 premises over the next few years, although it’s unclear how many of these will benefit from full fibre (FTTP).
Others get 10Gbps, this is 100Mbps. Mmm.
It’s postcode broadband depends on the council where you live
Having spoken to Rob Waltham he should hang his head in shame. The pay they are giving this “company” taxpayers money makes you wonder how much of a back handed he is getting.
This is one of the few examples that I actually want openreach to overbuild this and the quicker they do and the quicker this atrocious company is out of business the better. Amazing that rob waltham did not say that he has wasted 400k of local money with this company.
And everywhere on there map that is blue can already get a service from Slowline.
I have been with Quickline for many years and they have had many handouts from different councils over these years, yet still not enough transmitters or bandwidth to give the speeds that they sell, 30mbs at £39.99 pm but they are happy to say that if you get 15 mbs thats good enough!, wrong, if I went in to a butchers and bought 24 sausages and walked out with only 12 this would not right, same principle Quickline, so who is profiteering here, not the client. One of the handouts to Quickline prevented BT from continuing fibre in my area, thus it is the general public in rural areas who are suffering and not these companies that promise fast speeds but just do not deliver. I agree with Northern-Dude, that our taxpayer monies are being misused, but hey-hoe, all Central and local government departments involved in the “Great Broadband Revolution” are corrupt!. lets see in a years time where the speeds and reliability are up to the hype!, I certainly hope they improve on what we are paying for at this time