The Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) has today appointed Neos Networks to lead their £1.2m D2N2 Gigahubs project, which will work alongside Openreach (BT) and Netomnia to deploy a new full fibre gigabit broadband network to connect “up to” 28 public buildings (schools, NHS sites etc.) across rural parts of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
At present Neos, which runs one of the biggest 34,000km long business fibre networks in the UK – spanning 550 exchanges, 90+ data centres and 676 Points of Presence (PoPs), is already understood to have begun survey work for the new network build and it is expected that the full scheme will be “live by” Spring 2026.
All of the chosen sites are in the public sector and had to pass the scheme’s eligibility criteria, which means they must exist in a rural location, where existing broadband speeds are slower than 100Mbps and no other gigabit capable network is likely to be built commercially, or via another government-funded contract, in the near future.
Based on those criteria, the sites in Nottinghamshire currently include Langar C of E Primary School, near Bingham and Queen Eleanor Primary School, Harby, near Newark, with more eligible sites due to be identified. Meanwhile, 22 sites have been identified across Derbyshire and Derby. The project also aims to enhance digital inclusion and provide essential services in underserved areas.
David Bruce, Chief Revenue Officer at Neos Networks, said:
“We’re delighted to be supporting Nottinghamshire County Council with its project to improve access to better, faster connectivity for local communities in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Drawing on our extensive network reach and partnerships with established market players, the build and deployment of this new infrastructure will provide councils with a cost-effective solution to offer new digital services at local sites. Much of the UK still has to deal with sub-par connectivity.
This new network will ensure the availability of high-speed connectivity for citizens across urban, semi-rural and rural locations, as this project enhances digital and social inclusion across the region. We look forward to working with the county council as it promotes new social and economic opportunities for communities.”
Keith Girling, Nottinghamshire County Councillor, said:
“We are so proud to be leading this project. This appointment is great news as having better broadband in our communities will really help those who can’t afford or access high-speed broadband at home. Whole classrooms in rural areas could be online at once with no interruptions and there will be more options to host virtual field trips, to help broaden pupils’ educational experiences. While face-to-face health advice is always the preference, having the option for a high-quality video call with a doctor could help to reduce waiting times.”
Projects like this typically tend to involve the deployment of a new Dark Fibre style network to public sector sites, which effectively acts as the anchor tenant for the new infrastructure. This could, in theory, later also be harnessed to help extend full fibre broadband to local homes and businesses, but that would require a separate investment from the private sector.