'Fantastic achievement': 11,000 rural properties in North Yorkshire get faster broadband earlier than planned
Almost 11,000 properties in rural parts of North Yorkshire have been provided with faster internet connections ahead of schedule as part of the Governmennt’s huge £5bn Project Gigabit programme.
The Government wants gigabit broadband – which delivers faster, more reliable internet that can handle multiple users downloading, streaming or online gaming at the same time – to reach 99 per cent of UK premises by 2032 and has pledged £5bn to subsidise the rollout to areas that would not be covered by private investment.
Quickline Communications is among the broadband providers delivering the rollout and it has now announced that it has successfully connected almost 11,000 publicly funded premises across North Yorkshire – reaching the contractual milestone two months ahead of schedule.
A spokesperson said the achievement “marks a significant moment in the rollout of gigabit-capable full fibre broadband across one of the country’s largest and most geographically challenging rural regions”.
Having signed the North Yorkshire Project Gigabit contract in June 2024, Quickline has now delivered connectivity to 10,980 funded premises.
A company spokesperson said: “Delivering infrastructure at pace across vast rural areas presents significant engineering and logistical challenges, making Quickline’s early delivery milestone a strong indicator of the company’s growing capability and momentum in rural broadband deployment.
"Quickline has consistently delivered at pace across its four Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Project Gigabit contracts, including recent milestone achievements in both West and South Yorkshire as well as East Riding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and is one of the UK’s largest regional Project Gigabit delivery partners.
“The provider’s regional focus on Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, combined with its specialist expertise in serving rural communities, has enabled it to scale delivery rapidly while continuing to expand additional commercial full fibre coverage alongside Government-supported rollout.”
Imran Amir, Quickline’s project manager responsible for the North Yorkshire rollout, said: “Reaching 10,000 funded premises in North Yorkshire ahead of schedule is a fantastic achievement and reflects the incredible work of our teams and build partners.
“North Yorkshire is a vast and complex area to build across, so hitting this milestone early demonstrates both the strength of our delivery model and our commitment to ensuring rural communities are not left behind digitally.
“Fast, reliable broadband has become essential infrastructure for homes, businesses and communities, and we’re proud to be helping transform connectivity across the region.”
Quickline has now reached almost 55,000 Project Gigabit premises across its four contracts, alongside significant additional commercial deployment throughout Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Quickline is one of the Government’s biggest Project Gigabit delivery partners, with contracts totalling around £300m of public subsidy.
Earlier this year, the Government launched an online address checker to allow people to find out if they are due to receive a funded internet upgrade as part of Project Gigabit.
UK Telecoms Minister, Liz Lloyd, said at the time: “Many rural communities have long struggled to do even the basics online due to slow internet speeds.
"Now, hundreds of households and companies are receiving government-funded upgrades every day - helping those who would otherwise miss out.
"Our new address checker puts power in people’s hands to instantly find out when faster broadband is coming to their doorstep, helping them seize the opportunities of the digital age no matter where they live or work.”
As of July 2025, 85.9 per cent of UK premises had a gigabit broadband connection available according to Ofcom.
The overall project is being delivered by Building Digital UK (BDUK), a directorate within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
By March this year, more than one million premises were included in Project Gigabit contracts, of which 227,310 had been reached.
Wider project has faced delays
There have been several delays in rolling out the overall Project Gigabit progranmnme.
A recent House of Commons briefing paper said: “The government’s current target of reaching 99 per cent of premises by 2032 was announced in the 2025 Spending Review.
"It represents a delay of two years compared to the Conservative Government’s target of at least 99 per cent coverage by 2030, announced in the Levelling Up white paper in February 2022.
"That target was itself a delay compared to the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto commitment to deliver nationwide coverage by 2025. An interim target to reach 85 per cent of UK premises by 2025, announced in the 2020 National Infrastructure Strategy, has been met.
“Ofcom has estimated that if operators’ stated network deployment plans are achieved, 97 per cent of UK premises could have gigabit-capable broadband by January 2028.”