Openreach asks Mickley residents to team up for full fibre

Openreach has asked villagers and businesses in Mickley to consider pooling their Gigabit broadband vouchers to held build a new, gigabit capable network.

The vouchers are available from the Government and would fund a fibre network running from Openreach's exchange all the way to each property.

Residents who don't already have access to a 100Mbps broadband service can see if they qualify and pledge their voucher on the Connect My Community website. Some premises with particularly slow speeds of less than 30 Mbps may also be eligble for additional funding via the Digital Borderlands voucher scheme.

The vouchers allow Openreach to work with a local community to build a co-funded network and bring full-fibre broadband to areas not included in any existing private or publicly subsidised upgrade schemes.

More than 120,000 homes and businesses have already benefitted from ultrafast broadband after working with Openreach in this way.

Coun. Anne Dale. Stocksfield and Broomhaugh

Anne Dale, county councillor for Broomhaugh, Stocksfield and Mickley. said: “During the coming weeks it is so important that the residents and businesses of Mickley take the opportunity to secure full fibre broadband for every household in the village.

“Registering your voucher is quick and easy but will have a long lasting and positive impact on the whole community. F

"Full fibre broadband will make a huge difference to how we interact with our friends and family and will be a crucial enabler for local businesses both now and in the future. Please sign up.”

To claim vouchers which contribute towards the cost of building the new network, residents are asked to commit to ordering a full fibre service from a provider of their choice for at least 12 months once the new network is available.

Eligible residents qualify for up to £1,500 for rural homes and up to £3,500 for small and medium-sized businesses under the UK Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.