GigaHubs
The GigaHubs project focuses on providing gigabit connectivity to rural public sector buildings like schools, GP surgeries, libraries, and other public spaces. GigaHubs is part-funded by BDUK and part-funded by Oxfordshire County Council (OCC).
GigaHubs in Oxfordshire
The Digital Infrastructure Programme team at OCC secured funding from BDUK to install full fibre broadband infrastructure across various hard-to-reach public service sites in Oxfordshire as part of the GigaHubs project.
Community Centres, Schools, and More
As well as the £2m investment from DCMS, OCC agreed to add investment of £5m for this project. The added OCC investment in the GigaHubs project is primarily used to connect 53 community centres and village halls and marks the first of its type in the UK. The scope of the project includes:
- Schools
- GP Practices
- Fire Stations
- Libraries
- Leisure Centres
- Community Centres
- Museums
The county council funding is fully sourced from income generated under our Better Broadband for Oxfordshire Programme, due to the very high take-up of superfast broadband services under the contract with BT Openreach.
Neos Networks Takes the Lead
Following a procurement, OCC selected Neos Networks as the provider. Neos is connecting 193 public service sites with gigabit-capable broadband. Neos has sub-contracted industry leaders like Openreach, Virgin Media Business, and Gigaclear to build, manage, and operate the new infrastructure. Neos, along with its dark fibre expertise, oversees the implementation. The project began in March 2022 and continues to progress, aiming to complete in September 2024.
The below map details all sites included within our GigaHubs project. This map includes 2 Layers found by clicking the “Layer List” icon (located in the top right-hand corner of the map). This allows for alternate views of the project, either by “Site Type” or by “Delivery Status”.
In addition to the Layers function, specific sites can be identified using the Filter function (also located in the top right-hand corner) and these can be broken down further by filtering on “District” also.
The outcomes of Oxfordshire’s Public Sector Hub Sites Project will:
- Provide significantly improved connectivity to 193 public service sites in mostly rural locations where fibre connectivity is difficult and expensive to provision.
- Build upon Oxfordshire’s wider commitment to improve connectivity across the county through Oxfordshire County Council’s Digital Infrastructure Programme.
- Help Oxfordshire County Council to realise its ambitions for equipping community centres to become ‘community working hubs’ offering enhanced community services, health and social care support, and reducing the need for people to travel further afield to access these services.
- Assist Oxfordshire County Council in meeting its objective for net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
- Enable Oxfordshire County Council to migrate to lower cost, faster internet-based connections for its office buildings.
- Help with digital inclusion for Oxfordshire residents as additional fibre broadband connections will be delivered around the targeted hub sites.
Please note, most public service sites that are not in scope for delivery under the GigaHubs project have been indicated as planned for full fibre infrastructure build in supplier commercial plans over the next three years. If you have any queries relating to this project, please contact the team via our contact page.