Projects

In order to increase the opportunities for greater connectivity available within the county, the Digital Infrastructure Programme Team not only engage with suppliers and central government on their own rollouts but also run a number of projects on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council to deliver greater connectivity for communities across the region.

Current Projects:

  • Businesses in Rural Oxfordshire (BiRO) -  BT and Airband were awarded contracts under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), funded to collectively deliver full-fibre broadband to nearly 1,000 businesses in the most rural parts of the county. Delivery completed August 2022.
  • GigaHubs Project - The Digital Infrastructure Team at Oxfordshire County Council has secured funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) for a project to install full fibre broadband infrastructure to a range of public service sites in Oxfordshire. This is under the DCMS initiative known as ‘GigaHubs.

 

Previous projects:

  • Better Broadband for Oxfordshire (BBfO) - The Better Broadband for Oxfordshire project was a partnership between Oxfordshire County Council, BT and BDUK (Building Digital UK). The project connected over 90,000 premises, laid 640 kms of fibre spine and built 748 structures.

Other projects we are helping central government with include:

  • Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) - BDUK runs a voucher scheme offering business and residents in some of the hardest-to-reach places in the UK, additional funding towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband to their premises when part of a community project. (Please note: The voucher scheme in Oxfordshire closed to new scheme applications in April 2022, this remains closed pending completion of the Project Gigabit Procurement activities. We are expecting an update from BDUK in February 2024 about the future of the scheme in Oxfordshire.
  • Project Gigabit - BDUK funding of up to £114m to extend full fibre coverage to over 68,000 hard-to-reach premises in Oxfordshire & West Berkshire.