After his long-standing campaign, James Wild MP has welcomed news the government have reached an agreement with CityFibre for more investment to extend gigabit broadband coverage in North West Norfolk with work set start by January
Norfolk was selected as one of the early Project Gigabit procurement lots by government to reflect the lack of commercial deployment planned. However, the initial £114 million contract awarded to CityFibre in June 2023 only included premises in Castle Acre, Little and Great Massingham, and Harpley and did not include large parts of North West Norfolk.
Since the initial contract was signed, James has been lobbying for it to be extended to provide better coverage across North West Norfolk. He has met regularly with ministers, CityFibre's Chief Operating Officer, and Broadband Delivery UK's Chief Executive to press the importance of more premises being covered through Project gigabit.
The Minister of State for Digital, Science, Innovation, and Technology has now written to James confirming additional homes and business premises will be added to the existing Project Gigabit contracts for Norfolk.
Initial design work has now started for premises in North West Norfolk to be served from the Wisbech and Thetford exchanges and residents may notice work on main spine cable routes and build is forecast to commence in January 2025. Premises in North West Norfolk will also be reached through upgrades to exchanges in Fakenham and Soham. The design work for these exchanges will commence in January 2025, with build due to start in June 2025.
Once the design work is complete, a more detailed timeframe for these connections to be delivered will be confirmed along with the number of homes and businesses in North West Norfolk that will benefit from this intervention, alongside a detailed map. At Conservative Party Conference last week, James met CityFibre again and encouraged them to share such detail as soon as possible.
Commenting James said:
Better access to the fastest gigabit speeds is essential to support growth and access to services particularly in rural areas. Having campaigned for this, I am pleased agreement has been reached to make connections available to more homes and premises in North West Norfolk. I will continue working closely with BDUK and CityFibre and I look forward to the detailed plans and maps becoming available for my constituents.
The Project Gigabit plans are in addition to the commercial rollout already happening in the area. Importantly, the government has also confirmed that any premises not included in the CityFibre plans, or any wider plans, will be considered for alternative interventions where possible.
According to Ofcom data, North West Norfolk has 63.4% gigabit availability, compared to 75% in the East of England and 78.5% for the UK. Grimston, Gayton & East Winch only have 16% coverage.
- Text of letter from Rt Hon Chris Bryant MP, Minister of State, Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology:
“Dear James,
Thank you for your correspondence of 15 August to the Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP regarding the rollout of Project Gigabit in your constituency. I am aware that you have also recently contacted Building Digital UK to raise this matter and would like to sincerely apologise for the delay in you receiving a response. I am replying as Minister of State for Data Protection and Telecoms.
I am delighted to confirm that we have recently reached an agreement with CityFibre to bring additional premises into the existing Project Gigabit contracts for Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.
The initial design work has now started for premises in your constituency to be served from the Wisbech and Thetford exchanges and build is forecast to commence in January 2025.
Premises in your constituency will also be reached through upgrades to exchanges in Fakenham and Soham. The design work for these exchanges will commence in January 2025, with build due to start in June 2025. CityFibre will be happy to provide you with detailed maps once they are available.
Once the design work is complete, we will be able to provide you with a more detailed timeframe for these connections to be delivered, the number of premises in your constituency that will benefit from this intervention, alongside a detailed map. Any premises not included in the CityFibre plans, or any wider plans, will be considered for alternative interventions where possible.
I hope that this will come as a positive update for you and your constituents, as I am aware that you have engaged with BDUK on this matter since the contract for Norfolk was signed. I am more than happy to meet if you would find that helpful.
Thank you again for your correspondence.
Yours Sincerely,
Chris Bryant MP
Minister of State