North Yorkshire Council
Thirsk & Malton Area Committee
12 June 2026
Rural Connectivity
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT (MANDATORY)
1.1 The report sets out to update the progress of digital connectivity across North Yorkshire
2.0 BACKGROUND
2.1 North Yorkshire Council and its predecessors have been working with the UK government to address the lack of digital connectivity across rural areas. BDUK (Building Digital UK) the delivery arm for the Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology has the overall mandate for the delivery of national targets.
3.0 FIXED CONNECTIVITY UPDATE
3.1 There are three types of broadband coverage, below USO (10 Mb), Superfast (30Mb), Gigabit (1000 Mb). There is currently 2.39% below USO coverage, 96.17% Superfast coverage and 85.88% gigabit coverage within North Yorkshire.
3.2 Project Gigabit is run directly by BDUK. The UK has been split into multiple lots for Project Gigabit. The majority of North Yorkshire’s premises are in Lots 8 and 31. Lot 8 is primarily West Yorkshire however it includes Selby District and Skipton. This was designed as they are both better built from West Yorkshire.
3.3 Both Lots 8 and 31 were awarded to Quickline. Build has commenced in both areas and is nearing completion in Lot 8. Current gigabit coverage is 85.88%. Upon completion of the current Project Gigabit build it is expected to increase to 93%.
3.4 Currently 10,239 premises have been delivered out of 33,809. The current build hopper for North Yorkshire is approximately 20,000 premises across 18 areas, there is a pending change request to add an additional 1,323 premises to scope, with Quickline reviewing further additions for another Change Request.
3.5 The timescales for individual communities and villages can be checked on this link Broadband Rollout across Yorkshire & Lincolnshire | Quickline
3.6 Any further coverage gaps, will be proposed for a Type C (a nationwide framework) to be delivered by Openreach.
4.0 MOBILE CONNECTIVITY UPDATE
4.1 The Shared Rural Network (SRN) is a project developed by the UK’s four mobile network operators (MNOs) with support from the government. The programme aims to make 4G mobile broadband available to 95% of the UK, improving 4G coverage in the areas that need it most and addressing the digital divide. The SRN is a deal with EE, O2, Three and Vodafone investing in a network of new and existing phone masts, overseen by a jointly owned company called MOVA. The project is in two phases, the MNOs are to improve coverage in areas called partial not spots (PNS) whilst the government will use the new masts built for the Emergency Services Network (ESN) to provide extended mobile coverage from all the operators.
4.2 Within England the ESN are building 56 new masts 24 of which are in North Yorkshire mainly in the North Yorkshire Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. Where possible the new ESN masts are also hosting the SRN. There are currently twenty of these sites built with 9 partially active with just EE services operating.
4.3 When the sites become fully active with all the operators this will increase the 4G coverage in North Yorkshire to around 92% from at least one MNO. Continued rollout through to 2027 should lead to approx. 95% coverage by at least one mobile operator
4.4 The difficult part comes in taking the coverage up to 100% and tackling the small areas where there is currently no or poor signal.
4.5 SRN is delivering tangible improvements in North Yorkshire, especially in the Dales and Moors. Most easy wins (mast sharing) are done; focus is now on new infrastructure in true not spots.
5.0 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Information paper to update members as to the progress of digital connectivity
Report authors – Tracey Lambert, Transformation and Innovation Manager and Alastair Taylor, Chief Executive of NYnet.