Cityfibre extends full fibre roll-out to 36 more cities
Cityfibre will extend the roll-out of its full fibre network to 36 more towns and cities around the country, with an additional £1.5bn in construction contracts to be awarded by July.
The new investment, which is part of a £4bn national programme targeting up to 8m premises in the UK, will bring full fibre to Glasgow, Nottingham and Wolverhampton, as well as smaller towns including Solihull, Crawley and Barnsley.
The Goldman Sachs-backed digital infrastructure firm said that it hoped to begin construction in all of the new locations by the end of the year.
In all, Cityfibre said that the roll-out will create more than 5,000 construction jobs across the UK, and produce an estimated £85bn in regional growth.
The firm also announced that Talk Talk, from which it bought Fibrenation in January, would join Cityfibre’s network to market its consumer and business services.
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Culture secretary Oliver Dowden welcomed the move, saying: “We want to make sure every corner of the country benefits from world-class, gigabit speed broadband, so it is great to see Cityfibre expanding out into 36 more towns and cities.
“We are working closely with industry to push ahead with nationwide rollout and investing £5 billion so the hardest-to-reach areas aren’t left behind.”
Currently, Cityfibre has construction operations underway in 16 towns and cities around the UK.
Chief executive Greg Mesch said: “Britain’s need for a world-class digital infrastructure has never been greater which is why we stand firmly behind the Government’s plan for nationwide coverage by 2025.
“Full fibre will play a critical role in levelling-up the UK and so today we are accelerating our plans, bringing full fibre to more towns and cities, even faster.”