Digital Durham announces £24m high-speed broadband project

A £24 million project to bring high-speed broadband to 94% of businesses and residents across County Durham, Gateshead, Sunderland and Tees Valley has been announced.

Digital Durham, a partnership of eight local authorities including Durham County Council, has agreed a deal with BT to deliver high-speed fibre broadband by the end of 2016 and aims to provide a minimum of 2Mbps broadband speeds for all.

The funding for the project includes £7.8 million from Durham County Council & Gateshead and £1.3 million from public sector partners in Sunderland and Tees Vallet, as well as a £5.9 million contribution from BT.

A further £9.1 million has been contributed through Government funding from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).

The contract was signed at County Hall, Durham following an extensive and thorough procurement process.

North East Chamber of Commerce infrastructure specialist, Mark Stephenson, said: “For the second week in a row we have a clear demonstration of what can be achieved when the public and private sectors work collaboratively.

“Following last week’s iNorthumberland announcement, Digital Durham will be of enormous benefit to the regional business community.

“High speed broadband is becoming just as important as road and rail investment and is an essential component rather than an optional extra for many firms, so this is fantastic news for our members.

“It will open up a raft of new opportunities for businesses and significantly increase the attractiveness of the county for investment.”

Research suggests that within 15 years fibre broadband could bolster the economy of a typical town by £143 million and create 225 new jobs, 140 new start-up businesses and 1,000 more homeworkers.

Bill Murphy, BT’s managing director of Next Generation Access said: “This project is vital to the future economic strength of all the local authority areas involved in this project.

“It will go beyond BT’s commercial roll-out of fibre broadband and take faster broadband to areas which are technically and economically more challenging.

“Reliable access to broadband is an integral part of 21st Century living.

“It’s much more than streaming video and music or online shopping: it’s increasingly the way business is conducted and services are delivered.

“It will enable businesses to compete on a level footing regardless of location, making this large part of the North East a more attractive proposition for business re-locations and start-ups, including the creation of new high tech jobs.”

After a period of surveying and planning the first locations to be upgraded will be announced.

Most of the area will receive Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC), where the fibre runs from the telephone exchange as far as the nearest BT street cabinet. It can deliver download speeds of up to 80Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps.

Fibre to the Premises technology – delivering speeds of up to 330Mbps – will also be deployed in certain areas and will be available on demand throughout the whole of the fibre footprint should local businesses want the ultra-fast speed it offers.

BT’s local network business, Openreach, will install the fibre network which will be open to all communications providers on an equal wholesale basis.

Don McLure, Durham County Council’s corporate director of resources, said: “Breaking down the broadband divide will give our residents, communities and businesses opportunities that they’ve only been able to imagine up till now.

“Fast and reliable internet is becoming more important to daily life and going online will soon be the only way to access some key public services.

“Fibre and improved broadband will help us to strengthen our economy, grow and develop our businesses while enhancing community activities.

“This is an important milestone for all who live and work in this area.

“This is a project of huge significance to businesses and local communities.

“Fibre broadband will enable even our smallest businesses to compete on a level playing field with other companies nationally and internationally.

“That means businesses can expand without having to relocate and benefit from improving productivity. It’ll mean a big boost to our economy and the creation of new jobs as firms take advantage of their new-found competitiveness.

“And families in rural areas will be able to enjoy all the benefits of our digital age, such as downloading films and music, which have so far been denied to them.”