Alternative broadband services provider Bigblu Broadband (BBB:AIM) said its subsidiary Quickline Communications had deployed its first rural 5G site in North Yorkshire.

Quickline was selected earlier this year to lead a £6 million project to plug the mobile connectivity gap by designing and building a multi-use infill network in North Yorkshire.

The MANY (Mobile Access North Yorkshire) project would focus on bringing 5G connectivity to the county where 35% of the population currently has no 4G mobile coverage, the company said.

‘Early trials are positive and are expected to lead to a network that has multiple uses, both fixed and mobile, delivering ultrafast speeds to areas suffering from limited connectivity,’ the company said.

‘The deployment will pass hundreds of premises initially but can then provide for a scalable commercial deployment for 10’s of thousands of properties over the next 36 months’.

Shares in Bigblu Broadband nudged 1% higher to 100p, valuing the business at just shy of £56 million.

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