GoFibre Complete Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout Contract for Teesdale UK

Edinburgh-based UK alternative network GoFibre, which is rolling out a gigabit broadband (FTTP) network across remote rural parts of Scotland and Northern England, has today announced that they’ve completed a second publicly funded contract – worth £7m – under the government’s Project Gigabit scheme for Teesdale (Lot 4.01 in County Durham).

The original Type A (Local Supplier) deployment contract for Teesdale was first announced all the way back in late September 2022 (here), which committed GoFibre to build their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to reach slightly more than 4,000 premises over the following four years.

Since then around 8,100 homes and businesses, including 4,400 funded by the aforementioned contract, can now access gigabit‑capable broadband via GoFibre. The work has upgraded digital connectivity for rural communities in and around Barnard Castle, Mickleton, West Auckland, Middleton‑in‑Teesdale and surrounding rural villages.

Over the course of the rollout, GoFibre has also expanded their full fibre connectivity to more than 80 local businesses and village halls. The overall build also involved the installation of more than 600km of fibre cable and complex engineering work within multiple Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Upper Teesdale.

The announcement marks the company’s second successful Project Gigabit completion in recent months – following their £7.3m North Northumberland build in August (here).

Neil Conaghan, CEO of GoFibre, said:

“For us at GoFibre, this isn’t just about faster broadband – it’s about making sure people in Teesdale have the same connectivity as people in bigger towns and cities. It means a family can stream without the screen freezing, a farmer can get the services they need online and a small business can reach customers miles away. Full fibre really does open doors, and the amount of interest we’ve had shows just how much people here have been waiting for it.”

As an independent broadband network and provider, this is another outstanding achievement in delivering on our Project Gigabit contracts. We’ll now focus on delivering our two other major projects in Scotland. My thanks go to the Durham and Teesdale communities, our partners and everyone who rolled up their sleeves to make this happen.”

Telecoms Minister, Liz Lloyd, said:

“Fast, reliable broadband connects people, helps businesses thrive and creates new opportunities. Through Project Gigabit we’re improving infrastructure across every corner of the UK, ensuring rural communities don’t get left behind in the digital age.

Connecting these hard-to-reach communities to future-proofed broadband is a huge milestone for Teesdale and exactly the kind of progress we need to kickstart the economy and renew our country.”

Customers of the service typically pay from £21 per month for speeds of 150Mbps (30Mbps upload) on a 24-month term with free installation and an included router, which rises to £29.95 for their top 1000Mbps (100Mbps upload) package. But this price will increase by £3 each December. Customers can also take advantage of up to £200 in Switching Credit if they need to leave their old ISP early.

The operator currently expects to deploy their new full fibre based broadband network to reach a footprint of 250,000 premises “in the next 3 years“ (i.e. around mid-2028) and they’re home to a total of 10,597 customers.