Preston Digital Cooperative (PDC) builds shared digital infrastructure, tackles digital exclusion, and connects Preston's growing tech sector — governed by its members, for the benefit of the city.
PDC works across three areas — digital inclusion, shared infrastructure, and economic development — in line with Preston's community wealth building approach.
Free, high-quality internet access for community centres, delivered over our own fibre network — not dependent on commercial providers.
Supporting community organisations delivering digital skills, device provision and internet access to people who need it most.
A membership network for Preston's digital and tech sector — events, intelligence sharing, and helping local businesses win public sector contracts together.
Keeping value local — PDC is member-owned and governed cooperatively, reinvesting surplus back into Preston rather than extracting it.
The Preston Digital Network is being rolled out in planned phases, with each phase extending reach and capability.
CNI has built a dedicated fibre ring connecting community centres across Preston to a central hub at Preston Town Hall. The network is designed in a self-healing ring for resilience, with spur connections to individual sites.
All community centres are connected via dedicated fibre spurs back to Preston Town Hall, which acts as the central aggregation point for the network. Internet connectivity is provided at the Town Hall and shared across all sites.
The ring topology means the network can automatically re-route around a fault, maintaining connectivity even if a section of fibre is damaged.
Each connected centre receives a dedicated 1Gbps fibre link, a managed network cabinet, and Wi-Fi access points capable of supporting 20 or more concurrent users. Content filtering and central monitoring are included as standard.
The connection is provided free of charge, funded by grant income secured by PDC.
PDC is open to any organisation committed to digital inclusion or the digital economy in Preston. Membership costs a minimum of £1 and gives your organisation a democratic vote in how PDC develops.
For community centres, charities, housing associations, faith groups and other not-for-profit organisations serving Preston residents.
For SMEs, freelancers, consultancies and digital businesses who want to grow, collaborate and win work in Preston and Lancashire.
For councils, NHS bodies, universities, housing providers and other anchor institutions with a stake in Preston's digital future.
PDC operates on strict cooperative principles. Every member organisation — whether a large public body or a small community group — has an equal vote in how PDC is run. Members shape delivery priorities, approve strategic plans, and elect the Board of Directors at general meetings.
PDC works in close partnership with Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CNI) and was established with the support of Preston City Council.
CNI is the organisation that owns and operates the physical fibre network that PDC uses. It is a UK cooperative society that creates and maintains shared passive digital infrastructure — dark fibre, ducting access and colocation space — for the mutual benefit of its members.
CNI operates on a "thin-layer" model: rather than owning all the underlying assets itself, it mediates access to infrastructure contributed by member organisations, and makes the resulting shared network available exclusively to members. PDC holds a 30-year cooperative right of use over the Preston fibre, allowing it to include the network as an asset on its balance sheet.
PDC was established following work commissioned by Preston City Council to assess digital exclusion in the city. The Council is a founding member of PDC and hosts the network hub at Preston Town Hall. PDC's work is closely aligned with Preston's community wealth building approach.
CBN provides PDC's secretariat and governance support functions, including finance, administration, membership development and communications. CBN also manages delivery of the tech cluster programme and supports PDC's strategic development.
PDC is constituted as a multi-stakeholder cooperative under UK cooperative law. It is member-led, democratically governed, and operated on a not-for-profit basis.
Network Connect has begun installations at community centres, with the first three sites due to go live by end of March 2026. Wi-Fi access points, managed switches and central firewall/content filtering are being deployed across the nine Phase 1 sites.
Following an open invitation to CNI members, a contract for active network services has been awarded to Network Connect, a CNI member. The five-year contract covers equipment supply, installation, internet connectivity and ongoing support.
CNI completed construction of the 9.5km self-healing fibre ring connecting nine community centres to Preston Town Hall. The build was funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and came in on programme.
The first formal Board meeting of Preston Digital Cooperative took place, appointing Sarah Threlfall as Chair and Shaun Fensom as Secretary, and approving the initial £160,000 fibre deployment spend.
Whether you're a community organisation, a local business, or a public sector body — we'd love to hear from you. Membership is open and costs just £1.