Northumberland County Council has signed a 5 year deal with BT Global Services which will see the extension of the provision of NorthNet, a shared services platform for IT public sector services.

The service is expected to provide schools in the catchment area with increased internet speeds. The council has commented that the partnership with BT has already generated upwards of £860,000 in savings.

Networks and data manager at Northumberland County Council, David McDonnell, commented: “We are ensuring our rural locations in the county have access to fast internet speeds, Wooler library has just gone live with more areas to follow.”