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Superfast broadband for
Northmoor
Superfast broadband will soon be available to every
single property in Northmoor parish, including the
Village Hall, the pub and businesses, thanks to a
successful project driven by the local community and
supported by West Oxfordshire District Council. At
present, a significant proportion of properties in the
rural parish are unable to receive broadband services,
and villagers struggle to access the Internet.
Following two years of detailed preparation work, a
successful bid for Government funding, and support
from the District Council to select a service provider
to deliver the scheme, residents and businesses
are now looking forward to getting next-generation
superfast connectivity across the parish. The work will
be funded by a grant from the Government’s Rural
Community Broadband Fund (RCBF) awarded to the
Northmoor Community Project, which represents
local residents and businesses. Additional match
funding will come from the network operator.
A professional procurement exercise run by the
District Council and involving several potential
providers selected Gigaclear to do the work, and
the company is scheduled to start work this year on
building and operating a new fibre network. This will
provide coverage to all 521 properties in Northmoor,
Moreton and Bablockhythe, including residences
in the local mobile home park. The Northmoor
scheme is just one aspect of West Oxfordshire District
Council’s involvement in rural broadband projects.
A ‘Better Broadband’ project is under way to bring
superfast broadband to at least 90 per cent of
premises in the county by the end of 2015, as part of
a partnership between Oxfordshire County Council,
BDUK and service provider BT.
The District Council has agreed to pledge £1.6m to
boost the project locally and ensure that high-speed
broadband is provided to as many residential and
business properties in the District, with the aim of
getting as close as possible to 100% coverage. Work
on this project continues.
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