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UK continues fibre rollout to hard-to-reach communities
As part of the UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit, CityFibre will subsidise the deployment of full fibre infrastructure to more than 202,000 rural properties.
Hard-to-reach communities in counties across the UK will benefit from fibre rollout through the UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit.
Five contracts awarded to CityFibre, totalling more than £394m, will subsidise the deployment of full fibre infrastructure to more than 202,000 rural properties in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Sussex, Kent, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes.
Gigabit-capable connectivity
The project targets homes and businesses that are not included in broadband suppliers’ commercial plans, reaching parts of the UK that might otherwise miss out on getting the digital connectivity they need.
By the end of 2025, the government is targeting 85 per cent of the UK to have gigabit-capable connectivity, and then nationwide coverage by 2030.
“We’re continuing to expand our commercial rollout alongside Project Gigabit, extending infrastructure choice, multi-gigabit speeds”
The contracts were awarded under a competitive public procurement process. In line with its strategy, CityFibre will continue to expand and densify its significant existing network footprint in these areas alongside Project Gigabit, extending its rollout to almost 450,000 additional premises across the awarded regions within its eight million rollout programme.
This will bring the total premises benefiting from the new awards to around 651,000. Detailed planning will begin immediately with the first premises expected to be connected in early 2025.
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CityFibre is already delivering Project Gigabit contracts in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Hampshire. Alongside the latest contracts, this represents over £782m in government subsidies and unlocks almost £1.2bn in combined public and private investment in rural broadband.
With Project Gigabit subsidies targeted at locations not addressed by commercial build plans, CityFibre will be the only full fibre network available to those homes and businesses and to the internet service providers (ISPs) that serve them.
Built using gold-standard XGS-PON technology, CityFibre claims the network is capable of supporting speeds of up to 10Gbps. Its full fibre network will enable its current and future ISP partners to serve customers with far faster and more reliable broadband services than legacy copper-based networks.
“We’re thrilled to be a key delivery partner for the government on this critical infrastructure project, transforming the digital capabilities of rural homes and businesses across the country. But that’s just the start,” said Greg Mesch, CEO, CityFibre. “We’re continuing to expand our commercial rollout alongside Project Gigabit, extending infrastructure choice, multi-gigabit speeds, and unparalleled reliability to hundreds of thousands of additional premises in these regions.”
CityFibre’s full fibre network rollout programme targets up to a third of the UK market, representing up to eight million homes, 800,000 businesses, 400,000 local authority sites and 250,000 5G access points. It has already announced 285 cities, towns and villages that will receive a digital upgrade as part of the nationwide rollout.
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How will CityFibre's XGS-PON technology improve rural broadband speeds?What impact will Project Gigabit have on UK rural digital connectivity?How does CityFibre plan to integrate commercial rollout with government subsidies?Which UK regions will benefit most from the new full fibre contracts?What are the expected benefits of gigabit-capable connectivity by 2030?
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