A MAJOR shake-up to Cornwall’s rural broadband rollout has left thousands of homes and businesses in limbo – and reignited concerns about digital isolation in some of the Duchy’s hardest-to-reach communities.

Liskeard-based provider Wildanet has confirmed it is scaling back two major government-backed contracts to deliver gigabit-capable fibre broadband across central and South West Cornwall.

The contracts form part of Project Gigabit, a national scheme designed to connect remote properties overlooked by commercial providers. Wildanet had been tasked with bringing high-speed fibre-to-the-premises connections to 19,250 homes and businesses in west and mid-Cornwall.

So far, around 13,200 premises have been connected. But 7,700 properties – many in isolated rural communities – will now have to wait while alternative arrangements are put in place.

The publicly funded contracts were awarded through Building Digital UK (BDUK), the Government agency overseeing broadband expansion. In total, Wildanet secured £77-million across three contracts covering central Cornwall, South West Cornwall and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly as a whole – a programme aimed to extend gigabit-capable broadband to more than 37,000 additional premises.

Under the scheme, providers are only paid for completed and verified connections, meaning unbuilt premises do not attract funding.

A BDUK spokesperson said Wildanet had informed the agency it would not complete the remaining builds under the two contracts. The agency is now “moving swiftly” to secure alternative suppliers and will launch a new procurement round to cover the affected areas.

A Wildanet statement said: "Following a review of our Project Gigabit contracts to roll out gigabit-capable broadband to “hard-to-reach” premises in South West and central Cornwall, Wildanet has taken the difficult decision to scale back the build on these.

“Despite extensive efforts to deliver the programme in full, the cost of delivery in these areas has increased significantly beyond anticipated and it is unfortunately no longer commercially viable for Wildanet to complete these works.

“Wildanet has successfully connected around 13,200 premises to date under these contracts, from an original target list of about 19,250, but will no longer deliver to the remaining premises.

“Across Cornwall, Wildanet has delivered more than 50,000 new connections through a combination of private investment and publicly funded contracts and we remain a locally based company committed to delivering reliable and sustainable gigabit-capable broadband connectivity across the South West.”

The decision has triggered concern among Cornwall’s political leaders. All six of the county’s MPs have written to AI and Online Safety Minister Kanishka Narayan, urging urgent action to prioritise the affected communities.

They warned prolonged outages during Storm Goretti had exposed the vulnerability of Cornwall’s infrastructure. In rural areas where mobile signals are weak and roads can be cut off, reliable broadband is increasingly seen as essential – not just for business, but for safety.

Wildanet insisted it remains committed to the region, highlighting it has delivered more than 50,000 connections through a combination of private investment and public funding. But for thousands of households still waiting for fibre to reach their lane or farm track, the promise of gigabit-speed broadband now feels further away.