First contracts awarded under government’s Project Gigabit Subsidy programme
The UK government has awarded the first two subsidy contracts under its £5 billion Project Gigabit, which aims to deliver high-speed broadband to the hardest to reach areas of the UK that might otherwise not be reached by commercial rollouts.
The first contract, awarded in August, will see Wessex Internet awarded £6 million to connect more than 7,000 remote premises in North Dorset. The project will involve collaboration between the government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK), Wessex Internet and Dorset Council.
Significant preparatory work, including digging trenches and laying duct, will be required that will vary depending on geography and supplier. It is anticipated that the first connections will go live before the end of this year. Once the network is established, residents will be able to request a connection from a service provider.
The second contract, for £6.6 million, has been awarded to Borderlink (trading as GoFibre), which will work alongside the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Durham County Council to deliver high-speed broadband to over 4,000 rural premises in Teesdale.
Subject to further surveying, the project will connect premises in towns, villages and hamlets throughout the region, around areas including Bishop Auckland and Barnard Castle. Planning is underway on the project and construction is due to begin in spring of next year.
A spokesperson for GoFibre commented: “Closing the digital divide and helping local communities to thrive by providing previously unimaginable levels of capability through high-quality broadband services is at the heart of everything we do. Through our latest appointment, we will work as a trusted partner, equipping Teesdale with world-class connectivity built for the future.”
The government has also announced new changes to the Building Regulations 2010, requiring new-build housing to come equipped with the gigabit-ready physical infrastructure needed to support gigabit-capable connections.
The rules are subject to limited exceptions, including if a developer does not have the right to access the land to a distribution point, while there is a £2,000 cost cap per-dwelling. If a gigabit-capable connection is not possible within this cap, developers must install the next-fastest connection available within the cap.
Despite the changes, the impact is expected to be incremental, with around 96 per cent of new-builds already having FTTP capabilities, a figure that was expected to increase to 98 per cent without new legislation.
