Broadband infrastructure upgraded throughout Northumberland
Broadband infrastructure work is already underway in Amble, High and Low Hauxley
Northumberland County Council has awarded Commsworld, the UK’s largest independent network provider, a 20-year contract worth £22m. The contract will see £114m of private investment into the region to transform and support the county’s digital infrastructure over the next 20 years.
Alnwick based communications company Alncom are partners in the project. Work is already underway installing new high quality fibre optic cables alongside existing telecom infrastructure, bringing faster connectivity right up to people’s front doors.
High and Low Hauxley are due to be completed by the end of March, and work is ongoing in Amble.
The broadband upgrade project will replace the county’s ageing Wide Area Network (WAN) with world-class full-fibre infrastructure which will also provide businesses and communities across the county – including its most rural areas – with access to faster, high-quality, reliable connectivity.
Commsworld and their partners will deliver 262km of new fibre infrastructure, which will transform connectivity to nearly 150 council sites. It will also enable access to more than 120,000 residential and business properties across the county to Fibre To The Premises (FTTP), many of whom have never enjoyed access to gigabit-capable fibre networks.
Stephen Pinchen, Managing Director of Alncom told The Ambler: “Alncom are delighted to be involved in this positive and transformative news for Northumberland. The new infrastructure it creates can be used by us to reach the more rural parts of our county and also provide faster internet speeds to the more urban locations.
“Our partnership with Commsworld gives us capacity to build 10Gig networks which are more future proof.”
Cllr. Glen Sanderson, leader of Northumberland County Council, said: “This long-term approach marks a new and historic way forward for the council and its positive impact cannot be underestimated. “Above all, it will directly tackle digital exclusion, especially for those in our rural areas. Equality of access is vital if we want to improve the lives of all our citizens.
“Providing access to significantly enhanced internet connections will go a very long way to bridging this digital divide and benefit all our schoolchildren, parents and families, as well as our businesses and organisations.”
