Telecoms Opportunities – Helpful Information

This page provides information to telecoms providers to help identify opportunities for commercial telecoms investment in Northamptonshire.  If you would like to see other data made available then please email your suggestions to bigidea@northamptonshire.gov.uk  for review by the project team.  All data will be supplied on an equal basis to providers.

Northamptonshire's Next Generation Strategy was published in June 2013. This outlined the County Council's approach to meeting its full coverage target. The primary focus of this approach is to maximise commercial coverage.  The County Council remains an advocate for commercial investment and market competition – as a growing county the opportunities for telecoms providers are potentially lucrative, whether serving new build or retrofitting existing communities. 

Why Invest in Northamptonshire? ... it has one of the fastest rates of population growth in Britain and this is forecast to continue. This is being driven by an influx of younger people and higher birth rates rates – this growing population will contribute to the future customer base to drive demand for superfast broadband. The county already has a population of almost 700,000 and this is set to grow by 20% by 2025.  Northamptonshire's economy is growing fast too. It contributes over £14bn to the national economy. Current projections indicate that its contribution will rise to £20bn by 2020 - we want to exceed this target.

There are a number of suppliers operating in the county – you can find out more on the Telecoms Providers page.   Known existing and planned commercial superfast coverage in the county (OMR 2016) already accounts for over 70% of premises and has reached 98% when combined with coverage delivered by the Superfast Northamptonshire project. You can view existing and planned superfast coverage in Northamptonshire, including subsidised plans being delivered by Superfast Northamptonshire, on the project's interactive When and Where map

​The County Council invited telecoms providers to participate in an Open Market Review to ensure that the most up to date information on existing and planned commercial coverage in the county can be taken into account. 

This was important as the county council considers new opportunities to extend superfast and gigabit capable broadband infrastructure in the county.  This data will also be helpful to ensure commercial coverage is properly reflected on the Superfast Northamptonshire When and Where map (non-supplier specific). 

The Open Market Review closed on 26th July 2019 


The Secretary of State has approved a series of documents relating to the compliance of building regulations in respect to superfast broadband provision.

The requirement applies to new buildings and those subject to major renovation works. The approved documentation requires the deployment of ‘in building infrastructure and the building(s) must be equipped with a common access point and suitable ducting should a network provider wish to provide a service.

For further information on these approved requirements please click here

The local district and boroughs councils provide weekly lists of all the new build applications they receive, they can be found below:

To view the contact details for Planning Departments at each of the district and borough council's please see below:

Northamptonshire is the fastest growing area in the country, with a population that is set to increase from 691,952 (2011) to 774,832 by 2021, therefore the need for new housing provision continues to grow. Northamptonshire has 27 Sustainable Urban Extensions (SUE) planned at present. The size and locations of these can be found below:

The County Council recognises that businesses are the catalyst for economic growth and that SMEs play a vital role in economic prosperity.  Its been estimated that in 2012 there were around 4.8 million businesses in the UK and SMEs accounted for 99.9 per cent of all private sector businesses; 59.1 per cent of private sector employment and 48.8 per cent of private sector turnover in the UK. 

The County Council is keen to support local SME’s and business growth.  Digital connectivity is key to this.  A map and details for many of the industrial estates and business parks in Northamptonshire are available below:

  • To view Superfast Northamptonshire delivery progress, go to the Roll Out Schedule for details of structures delivered and available for services and what is in the pipeline coming soon.

- Layers available include Conservation Areas, SSSI and Flood Risk Areas.