Gigaclear has finished the £8.2m Project Gigabit build in villages round Banbury and Bicester, four months early. Here is who can now order full fibre, and how.

Full fibre broadband is now available to 3,880 homes and businesses in the villages around Banbury and Bicester. The government’s Project Gigabit build in North Oxfordshire has finished four months ahead of schedule.

The government’s broadband agency, Building Digital UK (BDUK), announced the completion on 13 October. The work was done by the rural broadband company Gigaclear under an £8.2 million government contract.

Which villages are covered

The government names five of the villages:

  • Hanwell, about two miles north west of Banbury
  • Horley, about three miles north west of Banbury
  • North Newington, about two miles west of Banbury
  • Stratton Audley, about two and a half miles north east of Bicester
  • Wendlebury, about two and a half miles south west of Bicester

It says the rest are spread across “surrounding villages and hamlets”, but it does not list them. Banbury and Bicester themselves are not part of this contract. It was aimed at rural premises the commercial rollout would otherwise have left behind.

Built, but not quite everyone

BDUK publishes a monthly table of how many premises each Project Gigabit contract has reached. Its September 2026 table, a snapshot taken on 17 September, lists 4,180 premises contracted in North Oxfordshire and 3,880 built.

That leaves a gap of about 300. Neither the announcement nor the table says what happens to those addresses. BDUK rounds its figures to the nearest 10, and says the contracted figure covers only premises in the contract’s initial scope.

The build was steady rather than sudden. BDUK’s monthly tables show 2,660 premises built in October 2025, 3,220 by January 2026 and 3,860 by July.

Bar chart of premises built under the North Oxfordshire Project Gigabit contract: 2,660 in October 2025, 2,910 in November, 3,040 in December, 3,220 in January 2026, 3,310 in February, 3,400 in March, 3,530 in April, 3,690 in May, 3,750 in June, 3,860 in July and 3,880 in September, out of 4,180 contracted. August 2026 is left out because BDUK temporarily removed 930 premises from that month's table.
Premises built under the North Oxfordshire contract, from BDUK's monthly tables. Chart by Banbury Online
Share this chartFacebookWhatsAppX

The August 2026 table showed only 2,930 built. That was not a reversal. A footnote says 930 North Oxfordshire premises had been removed from that month’s figures, “to be re-added at a later date”.

Smaller than first promised

When BDUK signed the two Oxfordshire contracts with Gigaclear in November 2023, it described them as worth a combined £26.5 million and covering around 10,000 hard-to-reach premises. It expected the first premises to have access in 2024.

This week’s announcement puts the two contracts at £23.1 million of government subsidy and around 9,300 premises. The government has not explained the difference. Work is still going on under the second contract, in South Oxfordshire.

What the government and Gigaclear said

Telecoms minister Ian Murray said finishing four months early was “great news for communities across rural North Oxfordshire”.

Gigaclear’s chief executive, Nathan Rundle, said the homes and businesses reached were in “rural communities that have historically been underserved”.

What it means for you

The new connection is not switched on automatically. You have to order it.

  • Check your address. Gigaclear’s home page has a postcode checker.
  • You do not have to buy from Gigaclear. It lists other providers that sell home broadband over its network: Merula, Village Networks, Wurzel, Gigabit IQ and VeloxServ.
  • Compare contracts before switching. Check the minimum term and what the price rises to when any deal ends.
  • If your address is not covered, the BDUK contracts page explains why some premises fall outside a contract. It also points to the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme for rural addresses.

If you live in one of the named villages and cannot get a connection, we would like to hear from you through our send us your news page.

Sources