Thousands of residents in Darlington will soon have access to the fastest broadband speeds in the UK thanks to a partnership between Darlington Borough Council and Netomnia Ltd, the UK’s fastest-growing wholesale fibre broadband operator.

Darlington Borough Council is granting permission to Netomnia via wayleave agreements to carry out cabling in their housing stock to ensure that 5,300 households will be given the opportunity to experience the benefits of a reliable fibre broadband connection. Securing this agreement means that Netomnia will now have the go-ahead to install its digital fibre infrastructure to more than 2,000 multi-dwelling premises in Darlington without delay.

Netomnia announced its rollout in Darlington in March 2022 and has already built broadband access to 12,500 properties across the town, all of which can now place an order for service through Netomnia’s ISP, YouFibre.

Zoltan Kovacs, Managing Director at Netomnia said: “Our partnerships with local authorities are crucial to ensuring our network is available to as many people as possible. Thanks to our work with Darlington Borough Council, 5,300 homes will now receive access to full fibre broadband, allowing seamless streaming, clear video calls and incredibly fast download and upload speeds of up to 10Gbps.

“We believe that everyone should have equal access to opportunity through the power of the Internet and all the benefits it can bring. By working with local authorities, housing associations and landlords, we can work to ensure that this becomes a reality for even more people across the UK.”

Cllr Andy Keir, Deputy Leader of Darlington Borough Council commented: “Reliable broadband is an absolute necessity in this day and age, with so much of our lives being played out online. I’m delighted that Netomnia has chosen Darlington as one of its locations for its multi-gigabit network. I am impressed with the speed of the rollout and just how little disruption the engineering work has for residents. We very much welcome this investment, along with other network operators in the area, who will provide a freedom of choice for our residents for this much-needed service.”

Peter Gibson, MP for Darlington commented: “This is fantastic news for residents in Darlington and a great example of how local authorities and operators can work together to benefit communities. Having access to a fast and reliable broadband connection is becoming ever more important to support people in their day-to-day lives and I am delighted to see the positive progress in Darlington, ensuring we work together to close the digital divide.”