Essex County Council holds a contract with Gigaclear to bring ultrafast broadband to homes and businesses in Braintree, Colchester, Epping Forest, and Uttlesford. Since 2015, Gigaclear has been working with our Superfast Essex programme to connect rural Essex to full fibre broadband. We awarded Gigaclear four contracts that presented the best value for taxpayers, aiming to bring ultrafast broadband to over 10,000 addresses.
We recognise how vital decent broadband is for homes and businesses in rural areas and know that delivering connections to hard-to-reach areas is key to boosting the Essex economy. However, three of these contracts remain unfulfilled, leaving some addresses without access to decent broadband speeds.
Essex County Council and broadband operator, Gigaclear have reached a settlement agreement.
This is in relation to the legal proceedings concerning broadband delivery contracts in Essex.
Gigaclear has delivered ultrafast broadband to over 90,000 properties in Essex. They are committed to expanding the network across the county over the next 18 months.
The council welcomes Gigaclear’s continued investment and broadband rollout in the region.
This news is especially positive for residents who experience a lack of broadband connectivity in the affected areas.
If you have any questions, please send us an enquiry. Please note that it is unlikely we will be able to provide any further updates beyond the messaging above. You can also contact Gigaclear via their Network Build Care team at networkbuildcare@gigaclear.com.
Previous updates:
26/07/24 to 06/03/25 - in July 2024, Essex County Council began court proceedings after unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue of 400 addresses that still lack access to decent broadband speeds through contractual mechanisms.
18/04/24 to 25/07/24 - this matter is now with Essex Legal Services.
10/10/22 to 11/04/24 - no further update to the current situation. We are still working with Gigaclear via our contractual mechanisms to resolve the delays.