THE historic village of Harbottle will now have full fibre broadband as GoFibre has announced build completion across the local area.
With Harbottle’s newly-installed full fibre broadband, local residents and businesses can access significantly faster and more reliable connections.
This new development is part of GoFibre’s ongoing mission to deliver broadband to hard-to-reach premises across North Northumberland and Teesdale, under the UK government’s Project Gigabit.
In Autumn 2022, GoFibre secured two multi-million-pound contracts as part of the government-funded programme.
This project will mean that an additional approximately 90 premises are now ready to connect to full fibre broadband.
The project aims to provide gigabit-capable broadband to underserved communities, addressing a critical need, as only 45% of homes in rural England currently have access to full-fibre broadband.
With the completion of recent construction, over 14,300 homes and businesses in the region can now immediately access GoFibre’s broadband, including 3,700 funded by Project Gigabit.
Andy Hepburn, chief operating officer at GoFibre said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to share that our full fibre broadband network is now up and running in Harbottle.
“This wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and expertise of our fantastic engineers and the support from the local council, National Parks and, of course, the understanding from the wonderful residents of Harbottle.
“Everyone pulled together to make sure the construction went smoothly and without too much disruption.
“We know just how important a fast and reliable connection is for working, studying and staying connected, especially in rural areas.
“Let’s continue to bridge the digital divide and build a more connected future for all of us”
The construction was a challenge GoFibre engineers had to undertake an extensive civil engineering effort on the north side of the main street, installing completely new infrastructure.
In order to keep the community at the heart of this project, they worked closely with Northumberland County Council Streetworks team, Parish Council, Northumberland National Park and local residents to ensure the least amount of disruption.
This included hosting two pre-construction meetings to keep the community informed, sharing updates through the Harbottle newsletters, scheduling the majority of works during school holidays and ensuring access to local amenities such as the Star Inn was maintained during the build.
Sandra Foggon, senior streetworks inspector, Northumberland County Council said:“The GoFibre team in Harbottle has been polite and considerate to residents, especially around issues like residents’ parking, and have left everything in the village clean and tidy.
“I’m impressed that residents will be able to get access to ultra fast broadband, with so little disruption and great customer service from the GoFibre team.”
