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Articles for Category Tag - Building Digital UK

Government to Foster 10 Year UK Infrastructure and R&D Funding

19th May, 2025 (6 Comments)

The UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) has this morning announced that it plans to introduce long-term, ten-year funding for certain R&D (Research and Development) activities, which could also deliver longer-term funding for infrastructure projects too.

Wildanet Expands Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout in Cornwall UK UPDATE2

16th May, 2025 (1 Comment)

The Government’s (DSIT) Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency appears to have published another contract modification notice for UK broadband ISP Wildanet, which will see their £18m state aid funded Project Gigabit broadband roll-out across hard-to-reach rural parts of South West and Central Cornwall (Lot 32.02 and 32.03) being extended.

2025 Openreach FTTP engineer up pole for Project Gigabit

Openreach Connect UK First Homes Under Project Gigabit Broadband Contracts UPDATE

14th May, 2025 (10 Comments)

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has this morning announced that they’ve connected, as part of their state aid funded contracts via the Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit scheme, the first remote rural premises in 38 different locations across the UK to their new gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network.

Welsh Government Quietly Reopens ABC Broadband Voucher Scheme UPDATE

13th May, 2025 (0 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) appears to have quietly reopened their Access Broadband Cymru (ABC) grant scheme during the middle of last week. This is being backed by an investment pot of £1 million (annual budget) and offers funding to help rural homes get a 30Mbps+ broadband service installed in areas of slow connectivity.

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Fibrus Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout in Cumbria UK Reaches 12,500 Premises

12th May, 2025 (2 Comments)

Infracapital-backed network operator Fibrus has today revealed that their £108m publicly funded Project Gigabit broadband rollout contract in Cumbria (Lot 28), which was awarded to the operator in November 2022 (here), has so far managed to reach “almost” 12,500 more homes and businesses. But many more are due to follow.

Three UK Closes Down Old Relish Wireless Broadband in Swindon

9th May, 2025 (6 Comments)

Mobile operator Three UK has notified the remaining customers still on their old Relish Wireless (Three Broadband) service in Swindon (Wiltshire, England), which was originally acquired from UK Broadband Limited in 2017 (here), that it is finally due to be retired by the end of May 2025. But the news came as a surprise to some users.

Full Fibre UK Broadband Builder Quickline Opens New Facility in Leeds

6th May, 2025 (0 Comments)

Rural-focused UK ISP Quickline, which is deploying a gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) and fixed wireless (FWA) broadband network across rural parts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in England, has announced the opening of a new facility and logistics Hub in Leeds to support their ongoing network build and training for future engineers.

Altnet Broadband Operator Freedom Fibre to Suffer UK Job Losses UPDATE

4th May, 2025 (11 Comments)

Alternative network provider Freedom Fibre (Lila Connect), which have so far grown their FTTP based gigabit broadband network to cover 315,000 premises (Nov 2024) across parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk and Essex, has over the past week notified staff of more redundancies.

CityFibre Survey Claims 8 Percent of UK Farms Still Have No Broadband

1st May, 2025 (12 Comments)

Network operator CityFibre, which recently appointed Censuswide to conduct a nationwide survey of UK farmers, has claimed that 8% of farms do not have any internet connectivity at all and yet almost two-thirds of farmers surveyed (60%) believe broadband is critical for day-to-day farming activities.

Openreach Win £157m Project Gigabit Broadband Build Contract for Scotland

1st May, 2025 (1 Comment)

The UK Government today confirmed that Openreach (BT) have been formally awarded the £157 million state aid supported Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contract for Scotland (Call off 6). The deal will see the operator extending their full fibre (FTTP) network to cover an additional 65,000 of the hardest to reach rural premises.

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First Homes Live on CityFibre’s Project Gigabit Broadband Network in Hampshire UPDATE

28th April, 2025 (9 Comments)

Network operator CityFibre has today announced that the first customers have gone live on their new 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network in Hampshire (England), which is being built as part of their £104m state aid supported Project Gigabit contract (Lot 27) – this aims to reach more than 75,000 extra premises across hard-to-reach rural areas.

Progress on GBP70m Extending High Speed Broadband in Wales Project

28th April, 2025 (0 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) has moved into the final market engagement phase of their proposed £70m (state aid) “Extending High Speed Broadband Reach in Wales” (EHSBRW) project, which aims to help upgrade broadband for some or all of the remaining 84,000 premises (i.e. those that can’t yet get “superfast” speeds of 30Mbps+).

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NFU Warn Farms Being Excluded from UK Gigabit Broadband Rollout by Cost

22nd April, 2025 (9 Comments)

The National Farmers Union, which represents over 44,000 Farmers and Growers in England and Wales, has warned that a good proportion of farms in rural parts of the country are still being excluded from the ongoing deployment of gigabit-capable broadband ISP technology – often even when the network covers the local road.

Fibrus Founder Criticises Openreach “Pole Tax” on UK Fibre Broadband Builds

17th April, 2025 (27 Comments)

The co-Founder & Chair of UK broadband ISP Fibrus, Conal Henry, has criticised network operator Openreach (BT Group) for the “pole tax” they claim is being levelled against them, which is said to be “twice the cost of paying our own staff, just to rent some poles and holes built by the British taxpayer“.

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Freedom Fibre Pick Xantaro to Boost Shropshire UK Gigabit Broadband Rollout

15th April, 2025 (1 Comment)

Network operator Freedom Fibre has today announced that they’ve chosen network solutions provider Xantaro and their related “Cabinet-as-a-Service” street cabinet solution to help “accelerate” their ongoing roll-out of a full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network in Shropshire (England). This is being conducted alongside fixed and IP services from Nokia.

Pound sterling broadband voucher by 123rf (100296328)

BDUK Close Gigabit Broadband Vouchers to Devon and Somerset UK

8th April, 2025 (1 Comment)

As expected, following our earlier report (here), the Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has today confirmed that their Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) has now closed for new voucher projects in Devon and Somerset (England).

2025 Openreach skills training course for engineers

Openreach Start Free 5 Day UK Street Works Training Courses

7th April, 2025 (4 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has opened a free five-day skills course in roadworks, signing, lighting, and guarding to Jobseekers in Bolton (more areas to follow). The course has been launched in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and is linked to the company’s commitment under their Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contracts.