Gigaclear Networks has won two contracts to deliver Stage 3 of the Superfast Northamptonshire project. These are bringing full fibre broadband to communities in rural North and West Northamptonshire. This technology is capable of supporting the fastest broadband speeds available in the UK.
The rural full fibre network build being delivered with Gigaclear is part funded by North Northamptonshire Council (NNC), West Northamptonshire Council (WNC), the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (SIT) managed by government agency Building Digital UK (BDUK) and The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Developments (EAFRD):
What do the contracts with Gigaclear involve?
| Contract | The two contracts were awarded to Gigaclear Networks by then Northamptonshire County Council, on 30th January 2017 following a competitive open procurement process with the wider telecoms market. They were extended in September 2020. On 1st April 2021, these contracts novated to North Northamptonshire Council to manage on behalf of the new North and West Northamptonshire Councils. |
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| Public Investment (£) | Combined, these contracts involve almost £10m of public funding, including: - £3.5m from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology;
- £4.5m committed previously by Northamptonshire County Council, now a joint contribution from North and West Northamptonshire Councils; and,
- £2m European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development which is managed by Defra's Rural Payments Agency.
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| Gigaclear Investment (£) | A minimum of £5.5m investment by Gigaclear. |
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| Network Build Details | Planning, design and build of a gigabit capable pure fibre network which provides for symmetrical download and upload speeds. Standard services start from 200Mbps. Around 6,800 premises will be connected and able to order full fibre broadband services by end of the summer 2023. More than 100 villages, where some or all premises are suffering poor broadband speeds, will benefit from this investment. |
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| Timescales | Network build will run from mid 2017 to mid 2023. |
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| Where? | To find out more about where Gigaclear are delivering for the project, please go to the Roll Out Schedule and view the list of communities in the ‘now available with Gigaclear’ and ‘village delivery programme for 2023' sections. |
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Gigaclear’s Investment – More than just a Network Build
Gigaclear has made a real difference and commitment to rural communities in Northamptonshire. Working with the local authority and BDUK, they have brought full fibre connectivity to many rural areas in need, enabling residents and businesses to access some of the fastest broadband services available in the UK. However, Gigaclear have also delivered wider community benefits. This has included a Christmas donation of books providing presents for local children, supporting a number of Warm Room initiatives, sponsoring local community sports teams, and investing in almost 50 community hubs across Northamptonshire.
Community Hubs are local community buildings such as village halls, church halls, sports centres or community and youth centres for example. Gigaclear are providing a free ultrafast broadband connection to help give these spaces a new lease of life, widening the range of uses possible, improving experiences, and bringing communities together for social and celebratory events, learning projects, games and virtual or hybrid meetings. One hub is sponsored for each community build area (which may cover more than one village). To find out more about connecting your community and how to apply, visit the Gigaclear Community Hub web page.
Image above: Gigaclear's Community Engagement Manager delivering children's books gifts to Moulton Library, Christmas 2022.
Gigaclear contract signing in January 2017
Image above shows Joe Frost Business Development Director at Gigaclear (on left), and Matthew Hare, then CEO of Gigaclear (third from left), with the Superfast Northamptonshire team holding a banner showing Gigaclear and Superfast Northamptonshire logos at the signing of the contracts in January 2017.
Further information
For more information on how and where Gigaclear are delivering for the project please visit the following pages:
For more information on how Gigaclear roll out their network please watch Gigaclear's build video, below.