New £120 Million Contract Promises Fast Internet to East Yorkshire Communities

When mapped out, the northern reaches of the UK often have the worst internet quality. While urban centres can get reliably fast internet, the rural areas of Yorkshire are at risk of being left behind. That’s where the government’s Project Gigabit programme comes in, allocating £5 billion to broadband projects across the country. As part of this effort, Quickline have been contracted to deliver fast internet to over 20,000 homes in East Yorkshire.

Project Gigabit Explained

First published in 2022, Project Gigabit is the government’s attempt to bring quality internet to hard-to-reach communities. Westminster has recognised that communities with poor infrastructure may fall behind, especially as the internet integrates more with our everyday lives.

Digital products and services are commonly used for working, communicating and generally upholding the modern quality of life we have all come to expect. Much of the economy relies on internet access for both businesses and consumers, especially in industries where the company operates online. For example, streaming services deliver TV shows through the internet and iGaming companies host slots and other casino games in online lobbies. These businesses trust that the average person has internet access, so they can visit an online casino and run its games at acceptable speeds. Access isn’t much of an issue in the UK, but internet speed is in more rural areas. As we handle more data, internet speeds need to continue improving to guarantee the same level of service. Using streaming as an example, a household with slower internet speeds might settle for lower resolutions because the content loads faster. Apply that to whole communities, and more important digital services, and it paints a concerning picture of future internet use.

This phenomenon has been called the urban-rural digital divide. It’s why initiatives like Project Gigabit exist, to balance the internet quality disparity between urban centres and rural communities. Similar projects have been launched to address 5G disparities across the country. Project Gigabit earmarks £5 billion in total, to be given out as contracts with private broadband providers but also to citizens, to help them get their own internet installed. In the North, rural broadband specialists Quickline have snapped up contracts for West and North Yorkshire over the past year. Now, they’ve won a new contract for East Yorkshire too.

Quickline’s £120 Million East Yorkshire Contract

First announced during the summer, Quickline have won a £120 million contract that covers approximately 20,000 households in East Yorkshire. It’s their fourth Project Gigabit contract in total, with the others spanning every corner of Yorkshire.

Under this new contract, homes to the west of Hull, at Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, will start to receive internet that can run at one gigabit per second. That’s just the start, as the contract also covers Kilham north of Hull and Easington in the East. It forms something of a triangle over Hull, bringing the core of East Yorkshire online at speeds the region has never experienced before. It makes sense to target these areas as, per government statistics, the constituencies of Beverly and Holderness have some of the lowest gigabit availability in the East Riding.

When averaged, the availability for East Yorkshire as a whole approaches 86%. Advocates of fast gigabit broadband suggest that the number could go as high as 95% if rural communities in the area are properly addressed by this programme.

Speaking about this new contract acquisition, Quickline’s CEO Sean Royce said: “We are now the UK’s second-largest Project Gigabit regional delivery partner and the only provider to be awarded a contract serving England’s largest county, Yorkshire, under the programme.”

That may change in the future but, for the time being, Quickline is the only regional service expanding internet access for rural Yorkshire residents. Like many government initiatives, Project Gigabit hopes to have all of the country covered by 2030, with at least 85% of premises covered by 2025. Only time will tell if those deadlines hold but, for those rural Yorkshire communities, it’s just a matter of waiting.