Broadband speeds in rural parts of Harborough expected to reach ‘lightning-fast’ levels

The hubs will be in buildings such as schools, libraries and recycling centres

Broadband speeds in rural parts of Harborough are expected to reach ‘lightning-fast’ levels - with 13 new 'hubs' being installed in the district.

Leicestershire County Council is set to receive over £1.5 million of funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as part of ‘Project Gigabit’, a programme which intends to bring fast and reliable broadband to ‘hard-to-reach areas’.

The funding will see the building of more than 40 ‘GigaHubs’ built in schools, libraries, recycling centres and other buildings across rural parts of Leicestershire, which intend to deliver ‘high speed coverage for the county’. The installation of these hubs will mean local residents will be able to switch to ‘gigabit broadband’, giving them access to WIFI speeds of up to 1,000mbps- the fastest connectivity rate currently available.

The installation of the Giga Hubs is set to be completed by 2024 and according to the council, the process may result in road works being implemented in parts of the county. Whilst the broadband companies BT and OpenReach are contracted to install the hubs, the council has suggested that there will be a “host of service providers to choose from” once the hubs are ready, meaning that residents will not have to be a BT customer to use the fast broadband.

Councillor Pam Posnett, Leicestershire County Council cabinet member for broadband, said: “The GigaHubs programme will really benefit our rural communities. Residents in rural areas will be able to benefit from greater broadband speeds, helping families, businesses and people working from home. We’ve already delivered superfast broadband to more than 75,000 premises, taking the total to 97 percent within the county, but championing GigaHubs means we can push on.”

Leicestershire County Council have since confirmed the locations of 43 new hubs. Here are the 13 that will installed in the Harborough district:Fleckney C Of E Primary SchoolMeadowdale Primary SchoolSt Andrews C Of E Primary School AcademyFleckney LibraryHighways FoxtonKibworth Recycling and Household Waste SiteMarket Harborough Recycling and Household Waste SiteDunton Bassett Primary SchoolLutterworth High SchoolSwinford C Of E Primary SchoolUllesthorpe C Of E Primary SchoolLutterworth LibraryLutterworth Recycling and Household Waste Site

Broadband speeds in rural parts of Harborough expected to reach ‘lightning-fast’ levels - with 13 new 'hubs' in the district