Work to bring full fibre connectivity within reach of almost every home and business in Preston has begun. CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, has broken ground on a new infrastructure roll out that will future-proof the city’s digital needs for generations to come.
Construction of the £30m city-wide full fibre network has begun in Frenchwood and Fishwick and is being delivered by Telent, on behalf of CityFibre. The team will use a range of construction methods while working in close partnership with Preston City Council and local communities to deliver a fast rollout while minimising potential disruption.
Each area will usually take a few weeks to complete; however, construction teams will typically only be outside each home for two to three days and CityFibre will be in touch by mail ahead of any work starting.
The overall project is expected to reach completion by 2024 but the first services will go live for people to take advantage of much sooner. As the network is completed in each neighbourhood, internet service providers (ISPs) will ‘light them up’ with some of the fastest and best value broadband packages available in the country.
In Preston, services will be available from an increasing range of broadband providers. Across the UK, CityFibre is already working with launch partner, Vodafone to supply full fibre infrastructure for customers on selected Vodafone Pro Broadband plans, while TalkTalk and other providers are expected to join the network in the future.
Residents interested in giving their home broadband a boost can find out more about the build and register their interest at www.cityfibre.com/PR-Register.
Speaking of the project, Steve Thorpe, CityFibre’s City Manager for Preston, said: “I’m immensely excited and proud to see work getting underway in Preston today. This is the start of an exciting new chapter for the city as it gets ready to thrive in the digital age.
“It’s important to remember that any short-term disruption will pay off tremendously in the long-term – once the network’s built, it will serve the community’s connectivity needs for decades to come.”
Full fibre networks, unlike many of the copper-based ‘fibre broadband’ services available today, use 100% fibre optic cables to carry data at light speed all the way from the home to the point of connection. This gives users speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps for upload and download, near limitless bandwidth and connectivity users can depend on.
A full fibre connection also goes far beyond simply enabling access to the latest entertainment at lightning speed. As an essential digital utility, full fibre boosts households and businesses alike, with experts saying it will drive a range of economic benefits, such as making us more productive and innovative.
Councillor Peter Moss, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Planning and Regulation at Preston City Council, said: “The past year has demonstrated the importance of fast and reliable internet for residents and businesses. Central to this is an effective and future-proof network infrastructure. We’re pleased to be working with CityFibre as they deliver this £30 million infrastructure project in Preston.”
