CityFibre Begin Project Gigabit Broadband Build in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes

Network operator CityFibre has today announced that they’ve begun the roll-out phase of their £51m state-aid supported Project Gigabit contract for the Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire & Milton Keynes (Lot 12) area. This will extend their 10Gbps capable FTTP broadband network to an additional 25,000 hard-to-reach rural premises in those regions.

The LOT 12 contract for Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes was officially awarded to CityFibre by the Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency in February 2024 (here) and the operator has since been conducting various engineering surveys, while also organising the necessary contractors. The good news is that this build has now begun.

Sadly, today’s announcement doesn’t provide any details of where CityFibre plan to build or how long it will take to complete, but previous reports have suggested that they’re expected to include Ecton, Great and Little Addington and Greatworth in Northamptonshire. Other rural towns and villages surrounding Corby, Daventry, Kettering and Wellingborough are also likely to be upgraded.

The operator, which is supported by various ISPs like Vodafone, TalkTalk, Zen Internet and many more (Sky Broadband to follow in 2025), already covers around 4 million UK premises with full fibre broadband – mostly in urban areas – and their ambition is to eventually cover up to 8m (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity, c.£4.9bn debt and c.£800m of BDUK / public subsidy) – representing c.30% of the UK.

Telecoms Minister Sir Chris Bryant said:

“Thanks to our government-funded Project Gigabit rollout, the buffering nightmare will soon be a story of the past for hard-to-reach communities in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes. We are providing households and businesses in these areas with the best internet speeds available, helping them to thrive in today’s digital world.”

Greg Mesch, CEO at CityFibre, said:

“We’re thrilled to deliver full fibre connectivity to underserved homes and businesses across Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes. This Project Gigabit rollout represents our dedication to repairing the digital divide, empowering rural communities to thrive with the advantages of advanced connectivity.”

Over the past couple of years CityFibre has secured nine Project Gigabit contracts, totalling over £782m in government subsidies to serve more than 464,000 hard to reach rural premises across Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Sussex, Kent, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire & Milton Keynes.

The network operator has also committed their own funding to help build commercially beyond this those contracted areas (i.e. a total of £1.2bn in combined public and private investment or 1.366 million extra premises may be delivered as a result of these contracts).