QUICKLINE'S NORTH YORKSHIRE PROJECT GIGABIT CONTRACT GROWS TO £76.9M
WHAT THE LATEST PREMISES CHANGES MEAN FOR RURAL BROADBAND DELIVERY
THE SHORT ANSWER
Quickline's government-backed Project Gigabit contract for North Yorkshire has increased in value to £76,850,907. It was originally awarded at £73.5 million and had already been revised to £75.58 million before this latest change.
The modification adds 1,323 premises to the contract's initial scope and removes 640 premises from that same part of the plan. That is a net increase of 683 initial-scope premises. However, around 6,400 deferred premises have also been removed.
For residents, the practical message is more complicated than “thousands of extra homes are getting fibre”. Some addresses have moved into the funded plan, some have moved out, and planned coverage still does not mean a service is ready to order today.
WHAT HAS CHANGED?
The North Yorkshire contract is part of Project Gigabit, the government's intervention programme for homes and businesses that are unlikely to receive gigabit-capable broadband through normal commercial investment.
Quickline was initially awarded £73.5 million in 2024 to reach around 36,300 hard-to-connect premises. Subsequent planning and contract changes lifted the value to £75.58 million, and the latest modification takes it to just over £76.85 million.
The higher value is accompanied by changes to the address list. Contract modifications of this kind are important because large rural broadband plans evolve as engineers inspect routes, providers update commercial build intentions and property-level data is refined.
WHY THIS STORY MATTERS
Project Gigabit funding is meant to reach properties that the commercial market may leave behind. Changes to the contract can therefore decide whether individual rural homes and businesses remain inside a publicly supported rollout or need another future solution.
THE CONTRACT NUMBERS EXPLAINED
The headline value has risen by approximately £1.27 million from the previous £75.58 million position. Compared with the original award, the contract is now around £3.35 million larger.
Those figures should not be treated as a simple cost-per-home calculation. Rural network costs differ substantially depending on distance, terrain, road crossings, existing ducts, wayleaves, power requirements and the number of premises sharing each section of infrastructure.
| CONTRACT POINT | FIGURE | WHAT IT MEANS |
|---|---|---|
| Original award | £73.5 million | The starting value announced for the North Yorkshire procurement in 2024. |
| Previous revised value | £75.58 million | The contract had already increased before the latest notice. |
| Latest value | £76,850,907 | The current reported maximum contract value after the latest modification. |
| Latest value increase | £1,270,907 | The difference between the previous and latest reported contract values. |
| Increase from original award | £3,350,907 | The total rise relative to the initial £73.5 million award. |
ADDED AND REMOVED PREMISES
The latest modification adds 1,323 premises to the initial scope while removing 640 others. Viewed only within the initial scope, that produces a net gain of 683 premises.
Separately, approximately 6,400 premises have been removed from the deferred scope. Deferred premises are not the same as properties already committed within the initial build. They are addresses that may be brought into delivery later if defined contract conditions are met.
This means the update is both an expansion and a contraction: the core initial scope grows slightly, while the longer-term deferred opportunity becomes smaller.
| SCOPE CHANGE | PREMISES | HOW TO READ IT |
|---|---|---|
| Added to initial scope | 1,323 | New addresses placed into the main contracted delivery scope. |
| Removed from initial scope | 640 | Addresses taken out of the main contracted scope. |
| Net initial-scope movement | +683 | The initial scope expands overall after additions and removals are combined. |
| Removed from deferred scope | Around 6,400 | A separate reduction affecting possible later delivery rather than the core initial scope. |
WHAT IS PROJECT GIGABIT?
Project Gigabit is a government programme designed to extend gigabit-capable broadband to areas where private investment alone is unlikely to deliver a network within a reasonable timeframe.
Suppliers compete for public contracts covering defined geographic areas. The subsidy helps close the gap between the cost of reaching remote properties and the commercial return likely to be generated from those connections.
The programme is particularly relevant to North Yorkshire because its large rural geography includes farms, isolated homes, small villages and businesses that can be expensive to connect using conventional commercial rollout models.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR NORTH YORKSHIRE RESIDENTS?
For addresses newly added to the initial scope, the change improves the prospect of receiving a publicly supported gigabit-capable connection through this contract. However, it does not provide an installation date by itself.
For addresses removed from the initial or deferred scope, the position depends on why the property was removed and whether another network plan exists. Government guidance notes that premises can fall outside a funded contract because gigabit infrastructure already exists, a commercial operator plans to build there, or the address is exceptionally difficult or costly to reach.
Residents should avoid assuming that removal always means permanent exclusion from faster broadband. Equally, inclusion should not be mistaken for an immediate retail service.
IMPORTANT DISTINCTION
A government contract identifies where subsidised infrastructure is planned. A retail broadband connection becomes available only after the local network has been constructed, tested and opened for orders at the exact address.
PLANNED COVERAGE DOES NOT MEAN LIVE SERVICE
Broadband rollout data uses several different stages, and they are easy to confuse. A property may appear in planning data long before an engineer reaches the road. It may later be recorded as built before every retail ordering system has updated.
The most useful question for a household is therefore not only “Is my address in Project Gigabit?” but also “Can I place an order now?”
| STATUS | WHAT IT USUALLY MEANS | CAN YOU ORDER? |
|---|---|---|
| Planned | The address is being considered or scheduled within a rollout. | Usually not yet. |
| Contracted | The premises is included in the supplier's funded delivery scope. | Not necessarily. |
| Built or passed | Gigabit-capable infrastructure has reached the area or address. | Often soon, but databases may take time to update. |
| Ready for service | The provider's checker accepts an order for the exact property. | Yes, subject to installation terms. |
HOW IS QUICKLINE'S ROLLOUT PROGRESSING?
Quickline said in February 2026 that more than 40,000 funded homes and businesses across its four Project Gigabit contracts in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire were live and able to order. It also said its combined government-backed and commercial full fibre network had reached more than 200,000 addresses at that point.
The latest BDUK management-information release, based on data held on 21 May 2026, recorded 33,810 contracted premises and 10,240 built premises for the Northern North Yorkshire contract. These figures are rounded and the government warns that reporting can lag behind delivery.
That May snapshot also predates the latest June contract modification. It should therefore be used as a progress indicator, not as a direct final total after every addition and removal announced in the new notice.
WHY DOES THE CONTRACT RUN UNTIL 2035?
The long end date does not mean residents must wait until 2035 for construction. The contract is reported as combining an approximately four-year build period with a further seven years of monitoring and financial reconciliation.
Large publicly funded infrastructure contracts remain active after construction so the government can check delivery, monitor take-up and apply contractual mechanisms if actual commercial performance differs from the assumptions used when subsidy was awarded.
| PHASE | APPROXIMATE ROLE | WHAT RESIDENTS MAY NOTICE |
|---|---|---|
| Planning and survey | Routes, costs, address data and permissions are refined. | Survey work, notices or changing availability forecasts. |
| Network build | Duct, poles, fibre and supporting equipment are installed. | Roadworks, engineers and staged areas becoming orderable. |
| Monitoring | Delivery, service availability and contract compliance are checked. | Fewer visible works, but continued reporting and customer connections. |
| Clawback period | Public funding may be adjusted if take-up or revenues exceed assumptions. | Usually little direct impact on the monthly retail bill. |
WHAT IS CLAWBACK?
Clawback is a safeguard used in subsidised broadband contracts. If the funded network performs more strongly than forecast—such as achieving higher take-up or financial returns—the supplier may have to return or reinvest part of the public subsidy under the contract rules.
The principle is intended to prevent a supplier from retaining an excessive benefit if a rollout that required public support ultimately becomes more commercially successful than expected.
For customers, clawback is mainly a public-finance issue. It does not normally mean that a percentage of an individual broadband bill is directly refunded to the government.
WHAT SHOULD RESIDENTS CHECK NOW?
The contract update does not provide enough information to determine the position of every property. Address-level checks remain essential.
| CHECK | WHY IT MATTERS | WHAT TO DO |
|---|---|---|
| Quickline address availability | A nearby live village does not guarantee service at your property. | Enter the full postcode and select the exact address on Quickline's checker. |
| BDUK premises-level plans | Government data may show whether the address is within an intervention plan. | Check the latest premises-level Project Gigabit publication. |
| Other network plans | A property can leave the subsidised scope because a commercial build is expected. | Check Openreach and other local full fibre networks as well as Quickline. |
| Technology offered | Quickline operates both full fibre and fixed wireless services. | Confirm whether the available package is FTTP or fixed wireless and compare speeds. |
| Installation and contract terms | Rural installations may need access arrangements or additional work. | Read the minimum term, installation details, speed estimate and exit charges. |
OUR HONEST VIEW
The higher contract value is positive evidence that the North Yorkshire rollout remains active and is being adjusted rather than abandoned. A net addition of 683 premises to the initial scope means the core funded plan becomes slightly larger.
However, the removal of around 6,400 deferred premises is too significant to hide beneath a simple “contract expands” headline. Deferred scope is less certain than initial scope, but households affected will reasonably want to know whether a commercial provider, another public programme or a very-hard-to-reach solution is expected to replace it.
The best measure of success will not be the contract's maximum value alone. It will be how many previously poorly served properties become genuinely ready for service, how quickly residents can order, and whether the connection is affordable once it reaches them.
SOURCES AND CONTEXT
This article was prepared from current contract reporting, official government guidance and published rollout data checked on 6 June 2026.
Latest contract modification reporting: ThinkBroadband: Quickline North Yorkshire Project Gigabit contract value increased.
Official original contract guidance: Building Digital UK: Project Gigabit network build contract – North Yorkshire.
Latest published contract progress data: BDUK: May 2026 premises contracted and built.
Quickline rollout update: Quickline: more than 40,000 funded premises live across its Project Gigabit contracts.
Contract figures and address lists can change as planning develops. Always use the latest exact-address checker before making a broadband decision.
FAQS ABOUT QUICKLINE'S NORTH YORKSHIRE PROJECT GIGABIT CONTRACT
HOW MUCH IS THE CONTRACT NOW WORTH?
The latest reported value is £76,850,907. The original award was £73.5 million, and the value had previously increased to £75.58 million.
HAS THE NUMBER OF PREMISES INCREASED?
The initial scope has increased overall. The latest change adds 1,323 premises and removes 640, creating a net initial-scope increase of 683. Around 6,400 deferred premises have separately been removed.
WHY CAN ADDRESSES BE REMOVED FROM PROJECT GIGABIT?
Scope can change after detailed engineering work or updated market information. An address may already have gigabit infrastructure, be included in another provider's commercial plan or prove exceptionally difficult to reach. The latest reporting does not provide an individual reason for every removed property.
DOES CONTRACTED MEAN I CAN ORDER QUICKLINE NOW?
No. Contracted or planned premises may still be waiting for construction. Use Quickline's address checker to confirm whether a live service is currently available.
HOW MANY NORTH YORKSHIRE PREMISES HAVE BEEN BUILT?
BDUK's May 2026 snapshot listed 10,240 built contracted premises in the Northern North Yorkshire contract. The figures are rounded, can be affected by reporting delays and predate the latest June modification.
WHEN WILL THE WHOLE CONTRACT BE FINISHED?
The build is expected to take place much earlier than the formal 2035 contract end. The later years cover monitoring and clawback arrangements after the main construction phase.
SUMMARY: MORE MONEY AND A SLIGHTLY BIGGER CORE SCOPE
Quickline's North Yorkshire contract has risen to £76.85 million. The initial scope gains a net 683 premises, but around 6,400 deferred premises have been removed. Residents should check their exact address because being planned, contracted, built and ready to order are four different stages.