07 March 2022

Neos Networks has secured a deal to provide it with full fibre gigabit broadband connections to over 200 public sector sites.

The 20-year agreement is backed by a £5m investment from the council and £2m from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s GigaHubs project to boost full fibre provision in rural areas.

Neos will work with Openreach, Virgin Media Business and locally based Gigaclear to provide connections to sites including county council buildings, schools, libraries, GP surgeries, fire stations, leisure centres, community centres and museums.

The move builds on Oxfordshire’s wider commitment to improve connectivity across the county through its Digital Infrastructure Programme. It has an ambition to equip community centres to become working hubs for services including health and social care support.

It is said to be the first majority council funded project aimed at improving the service offering available at community centres and village halls.

Additionally, the new infrastructure should enable the council to migrate to lower cost fast broadband connections for its office buildings.

“We are putting a lot of time and resource into ensuring that we are one of the best- connected counties in the UK,” said councillor Glynis Phillips, Oxfordshire’s cabinet member for corporate services. “This project strengthens our commitment to our digital infrastructure strategy and to improving local access to services, reducing the need to travel. We particularly look forward to finding ways to maximise the range of services that will be enabled in Oxfordshire’s vibrant community centres and village halls where collaboration with parish, district, and the county council will be key alongside our colleagues in the NHS”.

Neos plans to deliver the first phase of the programme by March 2022.