BT Northamptonshire BDUK Deal To Create 1,700 New Jobs

Northamptonshire County Council has become the latest authority to agree a deal with BT to deploy fibre under the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme.

The project will provide fibre to 53,000 Northamptonshire homes and businesses who would not otherwise be covered by the commercial rollout of superfast services, while speeds of at least 2mbps will be offered to all promises once the rollout is complete.

It is estimated that the rollout could create up to 1,700 jobs by 2027 and generate £110 million towards the local economy.

Northamptonshire BDUK deal

BDUK and the council will provide £4.08 million each, while BT will fund the scheme to the tune of £8 million. Work on the Northamptonshire BDUK project will start immediately with the first locations enabled with fibre by the end of this year.

“This is undoubtedly one of the biggest projects we’re involved with which will make an enormous difference in bringing prosperity to the county,” said Andre Gonzalez De Savage, Northamptonshire County Council cabinet member for infrastructure and public protection. ““Having widely available superfast broadband is essential if we are to compete in the digital global economy and I’m delighted that we’ve reached such a significant stage of this initiative.”

BT has won all of the BDUK funding available so far and is likely to win all of the remaining money up for grabs after Fujitsu withdrew from the procurement process last week. It has announced partnerships with a number of county councils across the UK, including Lincolnshire and Suffolk.

This latest deal is one of two announced today after BT agreed a £40 million partnership with Kent County Council.

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