Better Broadband for Oxfordshire (BBFO)
Better Broadband for Oxfordshire was initiated in 2013 as a partnership between Oxfordshire County Council, BT, and Building Digital UK (BDUK) with the initial objective of providing superfast broadband to 64,500 premises in the county by 2015 targeting 90% superfast coverage.
A second phase was then added to extend coverage to 95% by delivering superfast access to a further 11,100 premises by 2017. This was enabled by co-funding received from the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP), the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), Oxford City Council, and also Cherwell, South and the Vale of White Horse District Councils.
At the end of 2018, the final phase commenced with coverage extended to a further 2,400 premises, which alongside commercial rollout, raised superfast broadband coverage to 98% across the county. This phase was funded entirely by contract savings achieved to date and from £2.56m of gainshare funding received from BT, due to the high take-up of superfast broadband.
The Better Broadband for Oxfordshire contract has now successfully been completed with over 90,000 premises connected to superfast broadband.
As a result of Better Broadband for Oxfordshire, take-up reached 82% by May 2022, which means that over 190,000 Oxfordshire residents and businesses are using superfast broadband that would otherwise not have been available. Better Broadband for Oxfordshire is also positioned as one of the top three of the highest take-up rates across the country.
In relation to West Oxfordshire, Better Broadband for Oxfordshire completed its planned work in 2016. Further rollout was carried out by West Oxfordshire District Council with Gigaclear, separately from the Better Broadband for Oxfordshire Project this work completed 2021. To find out more, visit: West Oxfordshire District Council
The Digital Infrastructure Programme team is working on various other projects and activities to facilitate gigabit capable broadband delivery across Oxfordshire.
Significant achievements include:
- 97,058 premises connected in total (>24Mbps).
- 79,000 intervention area premises connected (>24Mbps).
- 23,000 additional premises fibre enabled.
- 641kms of fibre spine laid – equivalent to traveling from East to West in the UK (Ness Point, Lowestoft – St Davids, Haverfordwest, Wales)
- 748 fibre structures delivered.
- Better Broadband for Oxfordshire delivered below budgeted costs.