Hundreds of residents who live in flats across County Durham will be able to get fast, more reliable broadband at home after a new deal was agreed by their landlord.
Housing association believe housing has signed a contract with network operator Netomnia to install full fibre cabling to its blocks of flats.
This will give tenants and leaseholders access to broadband speeds of up to 8,000 Mbps.
The first site to have the new infrastructure installed is The Chains, in Durham.
David Taylor, Assistant Director of Major Works at believe housing comments: “Access to fast and reliable broadband at home is becoming increasingly important for connecting with friends and family, working from home, and using online services and entertainment.
“We are pleased to have improved connectivity and choice for residents in the 22 flats at The Chains, in Durham, and look forward to more customers benefitting from future works.”
To overcome legal and operational barriers to completing the work, believe housing partnered with national housing provider Places for People.
Places for People previously granted Netomnia permission to install fibre cabling to its own multi-dwelling unit (MDU) housing blocks, through a framework wayleave agreement.
It used its experience to support believe housing and is now offering the service to other social housing providers which could unlock Netomnia’s infrastructure to thousands of blocks of flats and social housing tenants across the UK.
David added: “By partnering with Places for People we are enabling customers and leaseholders in our flats to access this service, while supporting the nationwide rollout of superfast fibre broadband and our vision of ‘life without barriers’.”
Zoltan Kovacs, Managing Director at Netomnia, said: “We’re delighted to bring the benefits of our full fibre network to believe housing residents across the North East.
“Working closely with organisations like Places for People acting on behalf of believe housing, we can ensure no one is left behind when it comes to fibre broadband accessibility.”
Helen Ivison, Head of Asset Infrastructure at Places for People, said: “At Places for People we want to see communities thrive, and a big part of that includes digital inclusivity.
“No-one should have to go without access to the latest technologies because of challenges incurred through who owns a building or how you pay for your home.
“We’re on a mission to make sure everyone has access to full fibre broadband and are thrilled with the success of this collaboration.
“We look forward to rolling out the installation for residents in believe housing’s flats in the coming months and look forward to delivering more schemes in partnership with other housing providers.”
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