Northumberland County Council has appointed BT to install full fibre broadband connections to 271 public sector sites in the county.
The move is being made under the Northumberland Gigabit Project with aim of being completed by early 2022.
It has come on the back of the North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) succeeding in a £12 million bid for support from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Local Full Fibre Networks Programme, with Northumberland’s cabinet having agreed to provide £932,111 to support the roll out in the country.
Councillor Nick Oliver, Northumberland’s cabinet member for corporate resources, said: “This is an exciting upgrade to our infrastructure in the county, providing rural Northumberland with better connectivity than many city centres.
“Work has already begun to bring high speed, affordable and reliable connectivity to our businesses and residents, which is crucial in maintaining our economic competitiveness and achieving social inclusion, now more than ever.”
Sarah Walker, director for enterprise in the north of England for BT, said the network will provide faster connections for residents and businesses in the county.
BT will deploy the network through its infrastructure partner Openreach.
Image from iStock, sbelov
