Wellingborough has been announced as the next town to become a full fibre enabled community via a multi-million-pound investment from CityFibre.
According to the “UK’s largest independent carrier-neutral full fibre platform”, CityFibre, are investing more than £14 million to create “a new town-wide network that will bring fast and reliable full fibre-enabled internet services within reach of almost every home and business in Wellingborough”.
Through a nationwide full fibre rollout, the business is developing an innovative and improved digital infrastructure for up to eight million homes and businesses in the UK.
James Cushing, Area Manager for CityFibre, said: “Our full fibre network will transform Wellingborough’s digital capabilities for decades to come. Our builders will get to work on the network rollout this autumn and as properties are linked up to the network, we cannot wait for residents and businesses to see what is possible with digital connectivity that propels you forward rather than holds you back.”
Full fibre networks are not like copper-based ‘fibre broadband’, instead they use 100 per cent fibre optic technology. CityFibre stated that this means full fibre delivers data from your home to the point of connectivity with “speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps for upload and download, near limitless bandwidth and connectivity users can depend on”.
It explained: “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.”
Work on the full fibre network is set to begin in Wellingborough later this year, in October. CityFibre will specify which homes are ‘ready for service’ as work is finished in each area to give residents the option to connect to full fibre-enabled broadband services as it goes live.
Regarding CityFibre’s full fibre rollout plans for Wellingborough, Cllr David Howes, North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive Member for Rural Communities and Localism, said: “Getting the right digital infrastructure in place is a big priority for the council – this needs to be fit for the longer term.
“Full fibre connectivity is increasingly important for business success and innovation, for improving the quality of life of our residents, and enabling environmental benefits. We welcome CityFibre’s multimillion pound investment in Wellingborough and its wider plans for North Northamptonshire. This includes the work in Kettering which is well underway.”
He added: “Strong commercial investment in our area is critical to boost much needed full fibre coverage. This is already reaping rewards, with coverage jumping from 19% in August 2021 to over 35% in August 2022.”
Wellingborough residents will receive services from a growing number of broadband providers. For example, CityFibre is currently working with Vodafone (launch partner) to provide full fibre infrastructure for Vodafone Pro Broadband customers. Providers TalkTalk, IDNet, Giganet, Zen and more are expected to join the growing network shortly.
Find out more or register your interest here.