Better broadband for rural Northumberland as partnership launches new Project Gigabit scheme

Borderlink Broadband, trading as GoFibre, will work with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the County Council to enable thousands of hard-to-reach homes and businesses to access gigabit-capable broadband, made possible by £7.3million of DCMS investment.

GoFibre is a Scottish independent broadband provider bringing full fibre broadband services to homes and businesses across Scotland and the North of England. This is the third contract that has been awarded under Project Gigabit.

The project will cover towns and villages across the area including premises near Berwick and Wooler, subject to further survey completion. The contract has been signed and planning is now underway, with construction due to begin in Spring 2023.

The government is set to invest £5 billion to connect hard-to-reach areas, including the North East, to bring communities fast broadband. The connection should allow uploading and downloading data to occur smoothly.

Cllr Richard Wearmouth, Northumberland County Council's deputy leader and portfolio holder for corporate services, said: "I’m really excited to see the plans for the rollout of gigabit-capable broadband speeds in north Northumberland.

“This will enable thousands of our residents living and working in rural areas access the fastest and most reliable connection speeds available and will make accessing every-day activities – such as online banking, video calls, gaming and streaming – much more efficient.

“Not only will this benefit our rural communities but will support the levelling-up of our rural businesses too, allowing for better innovation and collaboration opportunities."

Julia Lopez, digital infrastructure minister, said: “North Northumberland will be one of the first places to benefit from this government's multi-million-pound investments to bring people in hard-to-reach areas the broadband speeds they deserve.

“Faster gigabit broadband will mean families no longer have to battle over bandwidth and people in rural areas will get the speed, reliability and freedom to live and work flexibly.”

The fast, reliable networks delivered by Project Gigabit will benefit mostly rural and remote communities across the UK, as well as tackling pockets of poor connectivity in urban areas. Having the fastest connections also means the UK is fit for the future, with broadband infrastructure designed to deliver for people’s needs for decades to come.

Sam Calvert, chief revenue officer at GoFibre, said: “At GoFibre, everything we do is guided by our mission to support the development and prosperity of local communities across Northern England and Scotland with high-quality broadband services.

“We’re delighted to have been awarded our second contract as a trusted partner under the government’s Project Gigabit scheme with today’s announcement providing an exciting opportunity for us to extend our services to the people of North Northumberland.

“Having already embedded ourselves within the Berwick community, we’re strengthening our ties with North Northumberland by helping locals to connect with each other and thrive, thanks to a reliable broadband connection. This opens up opportunities for economic growth, education and employment with everybody deserving access to world class connectivity which we’re looking forward to bringing to North Northumberland.”

Households and businesses can register their interest in GoFibre’s full fibre broadband services by visiting www.gofibre.co.uk/register