BT To Lay 660km Of Fibre In £18.9m Northumberland BDUK Deal

BT has secured more Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) funding after agreeing an £18.9 million deal with Northumberland County Council to deliver fibre to 95 percent of all properties in the county by early 2016.

BDUK will contribute £7 million to the project, a figure matched by the council, while BT will supply £2.9 million alongside its existing commercial investment in Northumberland.

The remaining £2 million will come from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which has contributed to the iNorthumberland project for the past six years. The ERDF money will be used to provide fibre connections for 2600 SMBs in the region.

BT Northumberland BDUK deal

“This is an important step in the campaign to bring faster broadband speeds to every home, business and school in Northumberland,” said Kate Roe, deputy chief executive of Northumberland County Council. “Working with BT we will be announcing the installation schedule in the coming months and communities across the county can look forward to improved access to online services and better connectivity for businesses from 2014 onwards.”

The rollout will be the responsibility of Arch, the council’s private sector development company, who will work closely with BT and the council to ensure the project is delivered. Northumberland is England’s most sparsely populated county and its complex geography means that the first premises won’t be connected until January 2014.

Around 660km of fibre will be laid, seven times the length of the stretch of the A1 that passed through the county, providing 91 percent of homes and businesses speeds of up to 80Mbps by January 2016.

Another four percent will receive up to 25Mbps, while the remaining five percent should have speeds of at least 2Mbps. Towards the end of the rollout, BT will investigate the possibility of extending fibre coverage to these areas through community collaboration projects.

Complex geography

The average downstream speed in Northumberland is currently 8.3Mbps while 15.9 percent of residents suffer from speeds lower than 2Mbps. BT says that the rollout of fibre will aid the local economy, protecting and creating jobs.

“This is exciting news for everyone who lives and works in Northumberland,” said Bill Murphy, BT’s managing director for Next Generation Access. “Superfast broadband will open the doors to countless business opportunities in the county, boosting the rural economy and supporting thriving local communities.

“Northumberland is a large rural county with many remote premises. As a result, deploying broadband is a substantial challenge but a vital one which will help local businesses to be competitive and ensure they remain in the county. It can also play an important role in attracting even more firms to the county thereby helping to create jobs for local people.”

BT has won all of the BDUK funding available so far and is likely to win all of the remaining money up for grabs after Fujitsu withdrew from the procurement process last month.

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