Project Gigabit

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly were recently selected to be in the first wave of the Government’s Project Gigabit, which will be tackling the hardest to reach areas, so that as much as possible of the UK has access to gigabit speeds. The initial contracts have now been awarded to local supplier Wildanet by BDUK (Building Digital UK, the Govt. executive agency running Project Gigabit) – see below for more detail. The rollout for the initial lots (see below) should start in 2023, and are expected to run until 2026.

Project Gigabit Lots

Lot 32.03 covers approx. 9,750 rural premises across Penwith and The Lizard, running northeastwards as far as Hayle, Praze-an-Beeble and Constantine.

Lot 32.02 covers approx. 9,500 rural premises in central Cornwall, from the north coast (between Newquay and Otterham) to the south coast (between Portloe and Fowey).

Contracts Awarded

On 10/01/2023 it was announced that the two contracts for Lots 32.02 and 32.03 have been awarded by BDUK to local supplier Wildanet, who have their HQ in Liskeard. You can see the press release here and the Wildanet Project Gigabit information page is here.

Communities beyond these areas can look at options outlined here if they want to investigate ways of accelerating the rollout in their area.

Project Gigabit – Public Review Launch in Cornwall for remaining areas

A Public Review for the rest of Cornwall and Isles of Scilly closed on 04/11/2022. The outcome of this will inform the next delivery steps for Project Gigabit, with further lot/s expected to be released in late 2023.