The Digital Infrastructure Programme (DIP) team is delighted to announce a significant milestone in Oxfordshire’s journey towards becoming a smart county.
In collaboration with Neos Networks, our GigaHubs project has successfully connected 187 public service sites with gigabit-capable, full fibre connectivity. The project, which aims to connect 193 sites by September 2024, focuses on providing gigabit-capable connectivity to predominantly rural public sector buildings including schools, GP surgeries, libraries, community halls, and other public spaces.
GigaHubs are part of ‘Project Gigabit’, the UK government’s £5 billion national mission to deliver lightning-fast, reliable broadband for everyone in the UK. This initiative, which began in 2021, is part of a broader strategy to enhance digital and social inclusion. GigaHubs is part-funded by Building Digital UK and part-funded by us. Our funding is fully sourced from income generated by the Digital Infrastructure Programme.
Uniquely, Oxfordshire’s GigaHubs project includes 56 community centres and village halls. These sites benefit not only from the new full fibre broadband infrastructure but also from three years of paid internet access, funded by us. This will pave the way for ambitions to enable these sites to provide a much wider range of community services, and potentially collaboration with the NHS.
The project has also included the migration from relatively expensive leased line services to direct fibre internet services for 37 council buildings. This has resulted in improved connectivity performance at these buildings while achieving a cost saving for the council.
Moreover, as part of the agreement with Neos, the council secured a £20,000 social value contribution. This funding has been used to purchase 30 public computers, which have been allocated to the Oxford Westgate Library, Cowley Library, and Abingdon Library.
As we continue to work towards connecting the remaining sites, we celebrate this achievement and look forward to the opportunities it will unlock for our communities.
Stay tuned for more updates as we progress towards completing the GigaHubs project and transforming Oxfordshire into a Smart County.
To find out more about the GigaHubs project and to understand how communities have already started reaping the benefits of enhanced connectivity, please visit the GigaHubs page.
