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First Peterborough residents blown away by broadband speed as CityFibre project gathers pace
First Peterborough residents blown away by broadband speed as CityFibre project gathers pace

Peterborough’s digital revolution has taken a significant step forward with the first households in the city connecting to a new full fibre broadband network.

CityFibre has invested more than £30 million to bring gigabit-speed connectivity to Peterborough as part of its strategic partnership with Vodafone. Construction work began in July 2018 with swift progress made since then.

More than 80km of fibre cables have been laid to date, with work now largely complete in Garton End, New England, Paston, Dogsthorpe and Newark and currently expanding out of these areas. The Ortons, in the south of the city, will be next in line to benefit with construction due to begin later this month.

The ‘fibre to the premises’ programme, which will put full fibre within reach of almost every home and business in Peterborough, is an expansion of CityFibre’s existing network in the city. Launched in 2014, the original 120km network was built to serve Peterborough’s business community and public sector.

As progress continues, CityFibre is committed to keeping local businesses and residents fully up-to-date on plans for each community, as well as highlighting the benefits that access to full fibre will bring to residents and businesses alike.

Rebecca Stephens, CityFibre’s city development manager for Peterborough, said: “It’s great to see the next step forward in the digital transformation of Peterborough. We are making the city one of the best connected places in Europe and it’s heartening to hear the feedback of those residents who are benefiting from gigabit-speed connectivity and seeing first-hand the difference it can make to their lives.”

Peterborough was chosen as one of the first ‘fibre to the premises’ city in the UK because of the city’s emergent tech sector, the council’s forward-looking commitment to ‘smart city’ initiatives, and the strength of its support for the project. Currently only around 6% of residents UK wide have access to full fibre broadband and its benefits.

Vodafone will use CityFibre’s network to bring Vodafone Gigafast Broadband to residential customers in Peterborough.

Paul Ryder, Peterborough city manager at Vodafone, commented: “With the first customers now connected to Vodafone Gigafast Broadband, we have begun the digital transformation of Peterborough. I’m really excited, talking to our customers and seeing the difference a full-fibre network infrastructure can make to the way people live and work.“

Among the first residents in Peterborough to trial full fibre is Paul Hinch-Worman. He said: “Blown away by how fast this is… watching that little needle SMASH into the back of the dial was impressive, to say the least. Thank you so much for letting us be part of the trial! Best internet we’ve had so far!”

To find out more about Vodafone Gigafast Broadband and to register your interest visit:

www.vodafone.co.uk/broadband/gigafast To find out more about CityFibre’s Gigabit City vision for Peterborough visit: www.cityfibre.com/peterborough

Follow us on Twitter @GigabitPBoro

ENDS

Issued on behalf of CityFibre by Weber Shandwick, PR Consultants for CityFibre. For more information or images, contact Dyan Owen at Weber Shandwick on + 44 (0)141 333 0557 / dowen@webershandwick.com / Laura Hamilton on + 44 (0)131 460 3001 or lhamilton@webershandwick.com

Notes to Editors:

CityFibre

CityFibre is the UK’s leading alternative provider of wholesale full fibre network infrastructure. With major fibre infrastructure projects over 50 towns and cities throughout the UK, it provides a portfolio of active and dark fibre services to its customers which include service integrators, enterprise and consumer service providers, local authorities and mobile operators. CityFibre has also recently partnered with Vodafone to bring ultrafast Gigabit-capable full fibre broadband to up to one million UK homes and businesses by 2021.

CityFibre is based in London, United Kingdom, and is privately owned by a consortium of Antin Infrastructure Partners and West Street Infrastructure Partners, a fund managed by Goldman Sachs. www.cityfibre.com