Northern Ireland broadband provider Fibrus has won a contract worth £108 million which will improve connectivity across Cumbria.
The deal will see the Belfast company deliver full fibre broadband to 60,000 hard-to-reach households in the north west England county under the government’s Project Gigabite, and at the same time create 90 apprenticeships.
Fibrus is in the process of carrying out similar work across Northern Ireland under Project Stratum and said the latest deal is its biggest yet. Installation work in Cumbria has already begun.
Fibrus Chief Executive Dominic Kearns said the deal is “validation of the Fibrus model”.
“Winning this contract to connect Cumbria extends the Fibrus investment plan to 700,000 homes and £700m – and sets us on the road to being central to national digital infrastructure,” he said. “Fibrus has already created over 350 jobs and will invest over £500m in their mission to transform the digital infrastructure by bringing hyperfast, full fibre broadband to rural homes and businesses in towns and villages across the UK.”
“Fibrus had already committed to investing its own resources to develop full fibre broadband across 45 towns in Cumbria. Now, the company is set to become the primary provider of full fibre broadband in the region, much in the way that it has done in rural and regional Northern Ireland.”
He said that, to date, 210,000 homes have been “passed” across Northern Ireland and Cumbria, with Fibrus on target to pass 250,000 homes by March 2023.
Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), said the deal will help boost connection speeds.
“We’re steaming ahead with our plan to level up internet speeds across Cumbria, which will see the biggest investment to date from the government’s Project Gigabit – the biggest broadband roll out in British history,” she said. “Tens of thousands of rural homes and businesses will be able to plug into faster connections in the new network, allowing Cumbrian communities to take full advantage of the endless benefits lightning-fast broadband has to offer.”
