CityFibre takes the high road with gigabit broadband across Scotland

Buoyed by a recent £1.125bn cash injection – said to be the largest ever capital raised for UK full-fibre deployment – CityFibre is maintaining the high pace of its full-fibre broadband roll-out and has stepped up its activities in Scotland.

CityFibre revealed that thousands of premises across Dundee would soon be able to access full-fibre connectivity and gave the leader of the Highland Council a tour of the works being carried out in Inverness as they approach completion.

CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full-fibre platform, is investing £40m in Dundee, helping to secure the city’s position as one of the most digitally connected locations in the world.

The latest milestone in network construction sees Charleston and Ardler added to the increasing list of neighbourhoods where works are now largely complete, including Lochee, Downfield, St Mary’s and Menzieshill. The next areas to benefit include Hilltown and Maryfield. Construction is being delivered by GCU UK on behalf of CityFibre, working in close partnership with Dundee City Council and local communities.

“It is brilliant to see such progress on Dundee’s new state-of-the-art digital network,” said councillor John Alexander, leader of Dundee City Council. “Reliable connectivity will help future-proof the city and we welcome this hugely important investment into its digital infrastructure. The city-wide network will help make Dundee one of the best-connected cities on the planet, something which will no doubt stimulate further inward investment. It is fantastic that residents and businesses across the city will very soon be able to take advantage of the many benefits of full-fibre.”

“The city-wide network will help make Dundee one of the best-connected cities on the planet”

Further north in Scotland, with construction of its full-fibre network for Inverness progressing across the city, CityFibre welcomed the leader of the Highland Council, Margaret Davidson, for a tour of the works, giving her the opportunity to see progress of the £20m project.

In Inverness, the roll-out is largely complete in the Balloch, Culloden, Smithton, Drakies, Crown, Inshes areas, while work in Kinmylies, Merkinch, Ballifeary and Lochardil is now underway. The network is expected to be largely completed by the end of this year.

Davidson was given an overview of the project to date, in addition to a demonstration of the typical network roll-out process, including excavation and reinstatement. Services in Inverness are currently available from Brawband and TalkTalk, with an increasing range of broadband providers expected to join the network soon.

Commenting on her tour and the progress of CityFibre’s £20m project, the Highland Council leader said: “The build progress across the city is very encouraging and it’s great to see that households and businesses across Inverness are already seeing enormous benefits. Becoming one of the best-connected cities in the UK with CityFibre’s state-of-the-art infrastructure is vital to the city’s future. Full-fibre connectivity will support our economic, social and smart city ambitions.”

The two new developments complement other recent work in Scotland. Construction has been completed in a number of areas of Renfrewshire, with districts now connected including Ferguslie, Millarston, Paisley town centre, Foxbar and Arkelston. In August, the company started work to connect homes and businesses in the north-west of Glasgow to its full-fibre network, in the latest part of the former altnet’s £4bn Gigabit City investment programme to bring full-fibre connectivity within reach of up to eight million homes in towns and cities across the UK.