CityFibre has committed to invest at least £30 million in the infrastructure project which will extend its fibre network to nearly every home and business in the city, starting in May this year.
Vodafone will use the network to bring Vodafone Gigafast Broadband to customers by early 2019. Vodafone Gigafast Broadband will offer customers ultrafast and reliable full fibre broadband at every stage of the connection from their home or workplace to the Internet. Unlike 97 per cent of today’s broadband services in the UK, Vodafone Gigafast Broadband doesn’t rely on old fashioned copper telephone lines.
According to figures from industry body Fibre to the Home Council (2014), providing full fibre to just half of all premises could result in a 1.1% rise in annual GDP. When applied to Peterborough, the city-wide fibre roll-out could unlock huge economic growth exceeding £700 million in Gross Value Added (GVA) over the next 15 years.
Peterborough is already making full use of the arterial fibre network built by CityFibre in 2013 following the award of a major public-sector contract. Most schools, council offices and the main hospital currently benefit from full fibre access, and recently, high-definition CCTV and traffic management cameras were added to the network.
Vodafone UK Chief Executive, Nick Jeffery, said: “We want to reinvent the home broadband experience. We were the first broadband provider to abolish line rental, we now guarantee line speeds, and from next year, we will offer customers in Peterborough Vodafone Gigafast Broadband. It will revolutionise the way people live and work, from better home entertainment, to remote healthcare monitoring and improved student access to core educational services. I am delighted that Peterborough is poised to become a UK digital leader.”
Greg Mesch, Chief Executive at CityFibre, said: “Peterborough is the perfect demonstration of the benefits a third competitive digital infrastructure brings the UK market. Our network has delivered superior services, at a lower cost than BT Openreach. It has fuelled economic growth, innovation and inward investment and paved the way for us to bring full fibre to the entire city. Lessening dependence on BT Openreach and Virgin is not only good for Peterborough, its residents and businesses, it is critical for the UK as a whole.”