Rural broadband specialist gets neighbouring Durham villages’ year off to a Superfast start by solving slow internet issues

Voneus, the rural community broadband specialist, today announced that it is now offering Superfast broadband to homes and businesses located in the County Durham villages of Ouston and Perkinsville.

There is still much disparity in the connectivity of different areas in the UK, and like many other poorly connected communities, the neighbouring villages of Ouston and Perkinsville have struggled with patchy connections and insufficient speeds. This meant they were often unable to perform simple tasks such as shopping online, let alone access the video calls and streaming services so many of us have relied upon with the closure of schools, workplaces, and leisure facilities due to pandemic-induced restrictions.

As one of the largest specialist rural broadband providers in the UK – already operating in remote parts of 16 counties up and down the nation – Voneus had the means and experience to help. The villages’ location makes it expensive to lay fibre in the area, and is the reason why other broadband providers have overlooked investing in the community. To get around this issue, Voneus has installed a network, supported by an existing ultrafast fibre connection close to the Ouston & District Social Club, which beams broadband southwards, to the Red Lion pub, via a high-capacity Point-to-Point link. Any home or business with a direct line of sight to these locations can now take advantage of Voneus’s service, with guaranteed Superfast speeds of between 30-50Mbps.

“This is life-changing for people in the Ouston community,” said Dave Westgarth, manager of local social club, The Ranch. “Superfast broadband for our social club will make customers very happy, all thanks to Voneus.”

Voneus’s strategic planning also means that the network can be extended easily to reach even more houses and local businesses from the two communities. During the next phase, Voneus will connect Ouston’s Community Centre, providing free-of-charge internet to this vital community hub and in the future, Voneus has plans to upgrade the infrastructure to full-fibre, offering residents minimum speeds of 100Mbps.

“I’m so glad we could get this network up-and-running so that the homes and businesses in the area could get online for the start of the new year,” said Steve Leighton, CEO, Voneus. “The pandemic has meant rolling out the Ouston network presented a particular challenge, but I’m proud of the way we have worked with the local community to find solutions to their problems, and I hope we can continue to work together to ensure everyone in the area has access to a decent broadband connection, regardless of where they live.”

With financial backing from Macquarie Capital, Voneus is constantly working to connect homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas to both Superfast and ultrafast, full-fibre broadband. The Ouston and Perkinsville network goes live as Voneus’s presence in the North East continues to grow and the company fulfils its commitment to provide remote parts of the region with access to decent broadband.