Scottish independent broadband provider GoFibre will work with the UK Department of Digital, Culture and Sport (DCMS) and Durham County Council bringing full fibre broadband services to homes and businesses across Scotland and the North of England, made possible by £6.6m of DCMS investment.
The project will cover towns, villages and hamlets across the region, including premises near to Barnard Castle and Bishop Auckland, subject to further survey completion.
More than 70 per cent of the UK can get gigabit connections, such as complete fibre, but these are primarily in urban regions, so the government is spending £5 billion to connect remote areas that could otherwise miss out.
The government says the projects intends to provide next-generation gigabit broadband to areas and businesses that currently have slow connections and would otherwise have been left behind in broadband companies’ roll-out plans. The government also claims that Gigabit-capable networks are lightning-fast and fit for the future, allowing communities to upload and download data with none of the disruptions associated with ageing copper networks.
Customers of the new service can expect to pay from £36 per month for a 100Mbps package on a 24-month term with an included wireless router, which rises to £69 per month for their top 1000Mbps plan. The latter also comes with a bonus Wi-Fi extender (this can optionally be taken on other plans for just £5 per month extra).
Chris Jagusz, Chairman of GoFibre, said: “Closing the digital divide and helping local communities to thrive by providing previously unimaginable levels of capability through high-quality broadband services is at the heart of everything we do.
“Through our latest appointment, we will work as a trusted partner, equipping Teesdale with world-class connectivity built for the future.”
GoFibre recently also secured a £164 million investment earlier this year from Gresham House’s British Sustainable Infrastructure Fund, to build their Fibre-to-the-Premises network across 500,000 premises in North England and Scottish Borders over the next three years.