County Broadband Get NGE to Build Norfolk’s Rural Full Fibre Network

Rural UK ISP County Broadband, which is currently building gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) networks to over 250 villages across Norfolk, Essex, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire in England, has today announced that they’ve appointed civil engineering firm NGE to help expand their coverage to 20,000 premises in Norfolk.

The proposed deployment forms part of the provider’s pre-existing plan to cover 500,000 premises in the rural East of England with their gigabit-capable fibre network by the end of 2027, which is being backed by an investment of £146 million from Aviva Investors (here).

According to today’s announcement, County Broadband is already building infrastructure to 55 rural communities in Norfolk, including the Breckland, Broadland, South Norfolk and North Norfolk areas. The operator tends to focus on locations “that have been overlooked by the more traditional broadband providers“, but it’s still unclear how many premises they’ve been able to cover so far.

We should point out that the provider is currently aiming to grow its UK workforce to create a 270-strong team by the end of 2022.

Lloyd Felton, Founder and CEO of County Broadband, said:

“To deliver our exciting plans to digitally future-proof rural Norfolk with gigabit full-fibre speeds, we need committed and skilled build partners who care about our local communities as much as we do.

With NGE, we have found the perfect partner to support and drive our rollout in Norfolk, given their rich heritage and proven track record of delivering significant infrastructure projects across a diverse range of sectors and environments.

We look forward to continuing to build momentum with our full-fibre broadband plans in Norfolk as we invest in the future of rural communities. Demand for faster and more reliable broadband continues to soar and the aspirations of tomorrow will soon become the needs of today.

Building full-fibre infrastructure in rural areas at this scale is a complex task. Each project is bespoke and requires significant planning and resources, as well as the coordination of local authorities and highways, landowners and other agencies. That’s why the sooner we start, the sooner residents and businesses in rural areas can start enjoying all the benefits of full-fibre.”

Scott Bicknell, UK Managing Director at NGE, said:

“NGE is thrilled to collaborate with County Broadband as well as local communities and stakeholders. This project gives us the opportunity to deliver our mission of interacting with communities and leaving digital legacies.

We are fully committed to combining field experience with functional expertise to build these new networks which will have a positive social and economic impact, whilst enabling us to invest in the local economy and discover the local talent pools.”

Prices for their service may vary between areas, but in most cases new customers will typically pay from £28 per month (excluding discounts) for an unlimited symmetric speed 50Mbps service with a bundled wireless router and free installation, then £48 for 300Mbps, £55 for 600Mbps and £80 for 900Mbps. Not the cheapest, but some of that is a reflecting the rural nature of their build.