Digital Durham

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What’s available now?

The different broadband technologies can sometimes be confusing so it’s important to know the options available and what that means for the speeds you can achieve.

Full fibre broadband known as Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) or Fibre to the Home (FTTH) is the most reliable, fastest service, achieving download speeds of up to 1 Gigabits per second (Gbps). This is when you have a pure fibre optic cable straight into your home or business from the exchange.

Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) is more widely available than ultrafast, with 97% of premises in County Durham being able to access it. The technology is a fibre optic cable from your nearby exchange to your local cabinet and then traditional copper wires from the cabinet to your home or business. Download speeds from 30Megabits per second (Mbps) can be achieved with FTTC.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is full copper wires from your local exchange to your local cabinet, and to your home or business. Download speeds of up to 24Mbps can be experienced through ADSL.

 

Check your postcode

Before you start to look for a broadband deal you need to know what technology is available to you. Enter your postcode into the Think Broadband checker to find out broadband availability and speeds in your area.

Network Providers

We are aware of many network providers in County Durham already and are working with providers continuously to encourage commercial investment in the county. As well as the well known bigger suppliers, many Alternative Providers (Altnets) are now providing connectivity across County Durham. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) then make a service available for people to buy, but the lesser known companies aren’t always listed on comparison sites and checkers. Make sure that you check out all of the choices available to you by looking at our list below and finding out which providers are working in your area.

Note: Whilst every effort is made to keep this list up to date, it may not be exhaustive of all the network providers working in County Durham. The material and information contained on this website is for general information purposes only and should not be used to make any business, legal or other decision. 

We are aware that Alncom are working in the following areas:

Cornsay, Hamsterley, Holwick, Newbiggin and South Bedburn

We are aware that Factco are working in the following areas:

Bolam, Boldron and Startforth

We are aware that FibreNest are working in some areas in County Durham.

We are aware that Grain Connect are working in areas of Durham

We are aware that Hyperoptic are working in areas of Durham.

We are aware that Netomnia are working in the following areas:

Low and High Pittington, Shadforth including Little Town, Sherburn Hill and Sherburn Village,  as well as lots of other areas around the county.

Please be aware that Netomnia partner with Internet Service Provider (ISP) YouFibre for the sale of broadband.

We are aware that OFNL are working in areas of County Durham.

We are aware that Openreach are working in areas of County Durham.

Please be aware that Openreach's Internet Service Provider (ISP) BT manage the sale of broadband.

We are aware that Rymote are working in the following areas:

Chester-le-Street and Waldridge.

We are aware that Virgin Media are working in areas of County Durham.

We are aware that Voneus are working in areas of County Durham.

 

Find a good deal on broadband

Once you know what is available to you and the ISPs in your area, you can look to get the best deal on your broadband.