County Council Offers to Take Charge of Broadband

Northumberland County Councils offers to handles broadband digging.

03:05 15 February 2020

The local authority also wants to be directly involved in laying cables into specific areas in efforts to connect hard-to-reach residents and communities across the county. 

 

The move follows earlier provisions of £12million under the Government’s Local Full Fibre Networks Programme to provide fibre internet connections to public buildings. 

The local council is set to provide and present their full business case to Digital and Broadband Minister Matt Warman and Hexham MP Guy Opperman. 

 

Nick Oliver, the county council’s cabinet member for corporate resources, said: “It is one of those lightbulb moments when you start to think about how we connect some of our most rural homes to broadband, when major companies are unwilling or unable to link them up.

 

“Within the council we already have in-house vast expertise in terms of planning, laying trenches, building infrastructure and IT.

 

“So rather than waiting for other organisations to develop longer-term solutions we just want to get on with installing broadband and connecting communities - something that many of just take for granted.”