09 March 2023

Transforming Northumberland's digital infrastructure

NICRE in partnership to deliver county's fibre broadband

NICRE at Newcastle University is contributing to a collaborative partnership, led by Commsworld, which has been awarded a 20-year contract by Northumberland County Council to deliver fibre broadband to the county. The contract is worth £22million and will see £114million of private investment into the county to transform and support digital infrastructure.

The fibre infrastructure will be linked to Commsworld’s Optical Core Network (OCN), a next-generation network in which it invested £10million, built specifically to boost security and resilience of digital infrastructure to organisations the length and breadth of the UK.


The OCN will act as the ‘spine’ from which wholesale fibre broadband providers can branch out into towns and rural areas of Northumberland at reduced rates so communities can enjoy significantly improved digital connectivity of up to one gigabit per second for gigabit-capable fibre broadband.

NICRE and its staff within the Centre for Rural Economy and Business School will work in partnership with Commsworld, iNorthumberland and Community Action Northumberland to tackle digital poverty, alongside digital skills and confidence within the communities of Northumberland.

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Cllr Glen Sanderson, leader of Northumberland County Council, said: “This long-term approach marks a new and historic way forward for the council and its positive impact cannot be underestimated. We are one of the first rural counties in England to focus on changing the lives of our communities by not only providing the infrastructure to give them ground-breaking access to full-fibre broadband, but future-proofing the system so it can adapt and grow according to the needs of everyone who lives and works in Northumberland.

“Above all, it will directly tackle digital exclusion, especially for those in our rural areas. Equality of access is vital if we want to improve the lives of all our citizens. Providing access to significantly enhanced internet connections will go a very long way to bridging this digital divide and benefit all our schoolchildren, parents and families, as well as our businesses and organisations.”

Melanie Thompson-Glen, NICRE’s business development manager, said: "We are excited to start working with Commsworld and CAN on making sure both businesses and individuals in rural communities are able to maximise the benefit from this fantastic investment in the county’s digital infrastructure."

See the Northumberland County Council press release here.

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