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Edinburgh-based UK broadband provider GoFibre has today announced that they’ve begun to expand their new full fibre (FTTP) network into the rural village of Witton-le-Wear in County Durham. The build forms part of their state aid supported Project Gigabit contract with the government.
Just to recap. The Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit scheme is currently working to extend 1Gbps download speeds (200Mbps+ uploads) to reach “nationwide” coverage (c. 99%) by around 2032. As part of that, GoFibre has already secured three smaller ‘Local’ (Type A) deployment contracts for Teesdale (Lot 4.01), North Northumberland (Lot 34.01) and the Scottish Borders and East Lothian (Scotland Lot 5) area. On top of that, they also hold the £105m regional (Type B) contract for North East Scotland.
The deployment in Witton-le-Wear thus forms part of their Teesdale (County Durham) contract and GoFibre’s network has already reached around 150 homes and businesses in the community, with a further 118 premises due to be added before build completion is reached in August 2025. Since commencing the wider project, over 4,000 funded premises are now ready for connection in the Durham-Teesdale contract area (close to the original target for Lot 4.01).
Despite a challenging crossing of the Witton Bridge which required the use of civil engineering avoidance techniques to avoid impacting the Grade 2 listed structure, the build has run to schedule so far.
Andy Hepburn, COO of GoFibre, said:
“We’d like to say a huge thank you to the local community for their support and patience throughout the build. Their cooperation allowed us to complete the project with minimal disruption, particularly when working around the historic Witton Bridge.
We know firsthand how frustrating poor internet can be, so it’s incredibly rewarding to deliver a service that’s fast, reliable, and built to last. This is a proud moment for our team and for the community. We hope you can join us at our event on the 12th to celebrate and learn how full fibre broadband can transform your online experience.”
Customers of the new GoFibre service, once live over the next few years, can expect to pay from £22.50 per month for a 150Mbps (30Mbps upload) package on a 24-month term with an included wireless router, which rises to £33 for their top 1000Mbps (100Mbps upload) plan. The latter also comes with a bonus Wi-Fi extender (this can optionally be taken on other plans at extra cost).