News

CityFibre set to extend it’s coverage in North Northamptonshire following the award of Project Gigabit Lot 5

21st March 2023

On 21 March 2023, government announced the award of the Project Gigabit Lot 5 contract to CityFibre.  This contract worth £69m in public funding will attract an investment of £53m from CityFibre and will deliver to around 45,000 premises across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and parts of North Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Hertfordshire.

CityFibre are the UK’s largest open access, fibre only operator, with services live in cities, towns and villages across the country.  They aim to serve 8 million homes across the UK by 2025. They already have a strong presence in Northamptonshire including serving most of Northampton and they are currently building extensive full fibre networks in Kettering and Wellingborough.

As part of its private investment, CityFibre has committed an additional £300,000 local stimulus package to create local jobs and provide training - including construction and engineering internships for disadvantaged groups such as armed forces leavers, people with disabilities and those affected by Covid.

The first Lot 5 live premises delivered and able to order a full fibre broadband service should be completed in early 2024. Ultimately the Lot 5 Project Gigabit build by CityFibre will take around 5 years to roll out.

Details on the build programme in North Northamptonshire, including rural premises set to benefit and the expected timing of the build programme, has yet to be confirmed.

You can view the government’s press release below

You can find out more on the CityFibre Project Gigabit webpage below:

Northamptonshire Full Fibre and Gigabit Capable Broadband Coverage Hit New Milestones

2nd August 2022

Full Fibre broadband coverage in Northamptonshire has smashed local targets as availability reaches more than 50% of premises in the county.  This compares to 37.3% availability on average across England at the end of July 2022.  Gigabit capable broadband is now available to more than 80% of premises countywide. This compares to 70.6% on average across England. There's clearly more to do but great progress is being made!  Telecoms providers like Openreach, CityFibre and Gigaclear have stepped up a gear on their commercial full fibre roll outs and investment from other full fibre providers is on the horizon. This sets to bring more choice to local residents and businesses. 

Gigaclear Banner.jpg

Gigaclear Networks are also continuing their full fibre roll out in rural areas, delivering with Superfast Northamptonshire.  The latest areas to have premises go live this summer include Ashton, Blisworth, Edgcote, Deanshanger, Preston Deanery, Puxley, and Yardley Hastings.  Go to www.gigaclear.com to see if you can benefit from broadband services of up to 900Mbps.  Services currently start at £17 per month for 200Mbps.  To find out about services available from other internet providers using Gigaclear networks, go to Our Partners | Gigaclear.    

(Coverage data is based on information sourced from ThinkBroadband.com)

CityFibre start work in Kettering and Wellingborough

10th June 2022

CityFibre has announced the start of work in Kettering and Wellingborough, rolling out more Full Fibre networks to boost connectivity to local residents and businesses. This will drive Full Fibre coverage in North Northamptonshire alongside investments across the area from Openreach and Gigaclear. This is part of CityFibre’s phase 2 plans in Northamptonshire. It builds on the success of its ongoing roll out in Northampton which CityFibre report has pushed Full Fibre coverage in the town 60% of premises.

Read more on the Digital Northants website. 

​​BT (Consumer) pauses its Digital Voice (VoIP) roll out – Find out why

29 March 2022

On 29 March 2022, BT Consumer (BT’s retail arm which sells and provides telecoms services) announced that it was pausing its roll out of Digital Voice – this provides voice calls over the broadband network (VoIP) instead of over the copper-based telephone network. You can read more about why they took this decision on BT's news page of their website. 

It is important to note that BT is not the same as Openreach. Openreach are continuing with the controlled phasing out of analogue services in areas where Full Fibre becomes available and they are continuing to work towards 2025, when Communications Providers (CP's) within the telecoms industry plan to switch off the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) i.e. the traditional copper-based telephone network. BT is only one of 600+ CPs who sells services using Openreach products and all CPs are making their own arrangements to change from analogue to all IP (digital) services. visit our UK Landline Digital Upgrade page for more information about the switch to digital. 

Openreach’s Fibre First Programme Expands Again in Northamptonshire

23 March 2022

Further to the News update provided in November 2021, another 7 exchange areas, in or on the periphery of Northamptonshire, are set to benefit from Openreach’s Fibre First programme. This is their ‘Full Fibre’ or Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) roll out, with gigabit speed capability. The latest exchange areas announced on the periphery of Northamptonshire are Adderbury, Banbury, Dunchurch, Hanslope and Rugby. The other announced exchanges are Harrowden and Moulton.

By February 2022, this digital infrastructure had been built out to 6.5 million premises nationally. This includes over 80,000 homes and businesses in Northamptonshire and represents an investment of £63 million in the area.

Clive Selley, Chief Executive of Openreach, has described the Fibre First programme as “building a network that delivers more than just speed. It will provide a future proof, consistent and dependable broadband service, that supports Britain for decades to come”.

Openreach have reported that they are aiming to bring Full Fibre to 210,000 premises across Northamptonshire and they say more than 65,000 of these have been announced in rural areas - with more to come.

The same caveats as reported in November apply i.e., not all premises in these exchange areas will end up served as some will be unviable commercially i.e., too costly, and constraints may impact others. However, the continued extension of plans for full fibre is clearly good news for residents and businesses.

Announced exchanges

The list of 47 exchanges involving coverage in Northamptonshire announced to date (March 2022) by Openreach include:

Adderbury, Banbury, Blisworth, Bozeat, Brackley, Braunston, Brigstock, Brixworth, Broughton, Burton Latimer, Byfield, Chapel Brampton, Cogenhoe, Corby, Creaton, Crick, Daventry, Desborough, Dunchurch, Duston, Earls Barton, Finedon, Great Oakley, Hackleton, Hanslope, Hardingstone, Harrowden, Irthlingborough, Kettering, Kingsthorpe, Kislingbury, Long Buckby, Moulton, Northampton, Oundle, Paulerspury, Raunds, Roade, Rugby, Rushden, Stamford, Stony Stratford, Thrapston, Towcester, Wansford, Weedon, Wellingborough and Yardley Gobion.

Further information

Openreach Extend Commercial Commitment to Full Fibre in Northamptonshire

Further to the Openreach coverage news reported on 24th June 2021, a further 3 Fibre First exchanges have been announced, namely Corby, Great Oakley and Paulerspury. This takes the number of exchanges in Northamptonshire to 42. Not all premises in these exchange areas will end up served as some will be unviable commercially i.e. too costly, and constraints may impact others. However, the further extension of plans is good news for local residents and businesses.  To view a map of Fibre First exchanges visit the Where and when we're building Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband | Openreach

The list of exchanges involving coverage in Northamptonshire announced to date (November 2021) by Openreach include:

Blisworth, Bozeat, Brackley, Braunston, Brigstock, Brixworth, Broughton, Burton Latimer, Byfield, Chapel Brampton, Cogenhoe, Corby, Creaton, Crick, Daventry, Desborough, Duston, Earls Barton, Finedon, Great Oakley, Hackleton, Hardingstone, Irthlingborough, Kettering, Kings Sutton, Kingsthorpe, Kislingbury, Long Buckby, Northampton, Oundle, Paulerspury, Raunds, Roade, Rushden, Stamford, Stony Stratford, Thrapston, Towcester, Wansford, Weedon, Wellingborough and Yardley Gobion.

Further information

Openreach Extend Commercial Commitment to Full Fibre in Northamptonshire

Today (24 June 2021) Openreach have made yet another announcement on their Fibre First programme. This brings the number of exchanges areas included in Openreach’s full fibre plans which include coverage in Northamptonshire to 39. 

This is great news for the county and our local Superfast Northamptonshire targets to see 40% of premises able to access full fibre by the end of 2023 (currently available to c.20% of premises). However, the announcements also need to come with a caveat as it is not yet clear how many of the premises in these exchange areas will be served. These are commercial decisions – so those more costly remote premises or difficult to reach premises are unlikely to benefit. The timescales for the deployment in different localities are also not yet clear because the programme extends until 2026.  Updates will be provided as and when known.

The list of exchanges announced to date by Openreach include:

Blisworth, Bozeat, Brackley, Braunston, Brigstock, Brixworth, Broughton, Burton Latimer, Byfield, Chapel Brampton, Cogenhoe, Creaton, Crick, Daventry, Desborough, Duston, Earls Barton, Finedon, Hackleton, Hardingstone, Irthlingborough, Kettering, Kings Sutton, Kingsthorpe, Kislingbury, Long Buckby, Northampton, Oundle, Raunds, Roade, Rushden, Stamford, Stony Stratford, Thrapston, Towcester, Wansford, Weedon, Wellingborough and Yardley Gobion.

Further information

More Fibre First Exchange Plans announced by Openreach

Openreach today (28th May 2021) announced plans to serve another three million more homes across the UK with full fibre, including around 25,000 in Northamptonshire. This follows the recent announcement by Openreach regarding its Fibre First plans for the Crick exchange, in addition to previous plans for Rushden, Hardingstone, Northampton, Kingsthorpe, Towcester and Daventry amongst others, some of which is already in build. 

Detailed plans and timescales have yet to be confirmed as further planning and survey work is required to firm this up. It is understood that the programme extends to 2026. Whilst Openreach announce exchange wide plans, it is expected that not all premises in an exchange will be served as some may be affected by wayleave agreements (access permissions for private land), special engineering difficulties or simply prove not commercially viable following survey. We hope that Openreach will share plans as they are confirmed so that we can update coverage information on our When and Where map. The latest uplift of our map is being prepared although this won’t reflect the latest Openreach announcements until more information is available.

Today’s announcement of exchange upgrade plans include Blisworth, Bozeat, Brackley, Braunston, Brigstock, Byfield, Crick, Hackleton, Long Buckby, Oundle, Thrapston, Weedon and Yardley Gobion. 

Further information

 

New Local Body for Superfast Northamptonshire

On 1st April 2021, the Superfast Northamptonshire team moved to North Northamptonshire Council and is now working on behalf of both the new North and West Northamptonshire Councils.  Following over 10 years with Northamptonshire County Council, the advent of unitary government in the county starts a new era for the project. 

The County Council achieved a huge amount through the project in the last decade, securing a budget of over £26m of public funding from a number of government and other local funders, including an £8m investment of its own.  It also secured £10m in private investment from its telecoms partners. The County Council brought access to superfast broadband to 70,000 homes and businesses and an additional 9,300 premises now have access to full fibre (gigabit capable) broadband as a result of this intervention.  This is on top of tens of thousands of premises connected through commercial investment attracted to the county.  The County Council also set ambitious targets and was one of the first authorities to set local targets for full fibre and gigabit coverage.

Whether your property is located in North or West Northamptonshire, you can contact the Superfast Northamptonshire team at bigidea.NCC@northnorthants.gov.uk.  The project remains focused on its 2023 targets for full fibre and gigabit capable coverage.  The programme continues to be challenging and we remain committed to securing solutions for those premises in need where possible. We have been advocates of the importance of good digital connectivity for home life and business for many years – the Pandemic has brought this into sharp focus for all us.

To find out more about broadband coverage in North and West Northamptonshire, please visit the When and Where map.  To find out more about what has already been delivered, where, and the future roll out with Gigaclear Networks, please visit the Roll Out Schedule.

CityFibre announce ambitious new plans for Northamptonshire

CityFibre have today announced an ambitious programme that aims to bring full fibre gigabit capable broadband to thousands of households within Northamptonshire. Their expanded plans now include Brixworth, Burton Latimer, Earls Barton, Irchester, Kettering, Rothwell, Rushden and Wellingborough. This is great news for digital connectivity in the county and is set to significantly increase CityFibre's presence which has already resulted in over 22,000 households in Northampton receiving a connection, with many more to come.

Commercial investments by CityFibre and other full fibre providers like Openreach and Gigaclear are critical to the achievement of County Council targets to see over 40% of premises with access to full fibre by December 2023.  Coverage has grown tenfold in the last 5 years and has reached almost 18% - today's announcement by CityFibre gives a significant boost towards realising our goals.

To find out more about the CityFibre programme and for updates, you can register your interest using the link below:
 
https://www.cityfibre.com/residential/

To view CityFibre's interactive rollout map go to:

http://www.cityfibre.com/rollout/

To view CityFibre's announcement go to:

https://www.cityfibre.com/news/cityfibre-extend-world-class-infrastructure-216-additional-towns-villages-across-britain/

More Properties in Rural Northamptonshire to Benefit from Gigabit Capable Broadband

7,000 homes and businesses across rural Northamptonshire are set to benefit from ultrafast-fibre internet.

Gigaclear, the rural broadband provider, has announced plans, in partnership with Northamptonshire County Council and Building Digital UK (BDUK), to expand its full-fibre-to-the-property network for the Superfast Northamptonshire project. This latest public investment, including funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, will support an additional 700 rural properties. It takes the coverage due to be delivered by Gigaclear for the project, to 7000. When combined with Gigaclear's substantial commercial plans in the county, as many as 30,000 homes and businesses in rural Northamptonshire will have access to the fastest fibre broadband available. 

The communities set to benefit from the extension include parts of Blatherwycke, Braunston, Flore, Grafton Underwood, Nether Heyford, Oundle, Silverstone, Stanwick, and Upper Heyford.

The announcement supports the County Council's local target to reach 40% full-fibre coverage across Northamptonshire by the end of 2023.

To find out more about the Superfast Northamptonshire plans with Gigaclear go to:

Working with Gigaclear and Gigaclears website.

The full press release is available in the pdf below

Gigaclear Extension Press Release.pdf

Postcard Campaign to Boost Take Up of Fibre Broadband Launched
25th March 2019

Superfast Northamptonshire has recently been awarded over £12,000 by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to support measures to help drive the take up of superfast broadband services. Performance on take up in the county is good but there is scope to see more. By boosting take up of fibre broadband services, this 100% grant funded initiative is increasing the benefits achieved through public investment in the county's fibre broadband infrastructure. 

In late March, over 34,000 postcards dropped through the letterboxes of homes and businesses which have been served by the Superfast Northamptonshire project. These premises, which are located in urban and rural communities across the county, now have access to superfast broadband. The postcard aimed to raise awareness that fibre broadband is now available and about the benefits of upgrading to a faster more reliable service. It also signposted residents to advice on how to get connected.  Getting faster broadband is not automatic, you need to order a service upgrade. See our Get Connected webpage for advice.

These premises are some of the 72,000 premises served to date by the project in partnership with Government and delivery suppliers Openreach and Gigaclear Networks. The postcard drop targeted areas where less than 50% of the premises served by the project had taken up a fibre service. 

Northampton is set to benefit from an investment of 40m in its digital future.
20th March 2019

Northampton is set to benefit from an investment of £40m in its digital future as part of plans announced by CityFibre to roll out full fibre networks capable of supporting 1000 Mbps speeds. For reference the average speed available to UK premises currently sits around the 33 Mbps mark. On completion, the state-of-the-art network is expected to reach nearly every home and business within the town. CityFibre report that this will not only provide residents and businesses with access to the UK's fastest broadband services, it will also support the roll-out of 5G mobile services in the future.

The network roll out is due to begin in the autumn of 2019, with the first Vodafone Gigafast broadband services set to go live by the end of the year. 

This is great news and a real opportunity for Northampton.  With full fibre connectivity currently only available to 6% of premises in the UK, Northampton will be well placed to attract and grow new digital savvy business.  

Visit the benefits for business web page to learn more about the benefits of fast and reliable broadband. for business here.

Further information

City Fibre Website