´óÏó´«Ã½

The Belfast-based broadband company Fibrus has won its first major contract in Great Britain.

The £108m scheme will upgrade broadband for more than 60,000 hard-to-reach homes and businesses across Cumbria in north-west England.

It is part of the UK government's Project Gigabit, which aims to improve broadband across the UK.

Fibrus is delivering a similar scheme in Northern Ireland known as Project Stratum.

That project, which is worth more than £200m, is largely funded by money which flowed from the Democratic Unionist Party's confidence and supply deal with the Conservative Party in 2017.

Project Gigabit is mostly focused on encouraging commercial investment with the government subsiding roll-out to mainly rural areas where the private sector would not otherwise connect.

Fibrus chief executive Dominic Kearns said the Project Gigabit contract was a significant development for the company.

"Winning this contract to connect Cumbria extends the Fibrus investment plan to 700,000 homes and £700m and sets us on the road to being central to national digital infrastructure."