Network developer Cityfibre, which is currently rolling out ultrafast Gigabit-capable fibre optic (FTTP) broadband networks across a growing number of UK cities, has announced that Glasgow in Scotland will become the next to benefit from early in 2016.
The intention is to “ultimately deliver the huge benefits of pure fibre connectivity to the whole city“, which they claim will deliver “internet connectivity [that is] up to 100 times faster than the UK average“. All of this will be achieved as part of a partnership with Scottish ISP HighNet, which focuses on supplying broadband and Ethernet services to businesses across the UK.
Apparently Phase One of the deployment will focus upon the city centre, which should put the network within “close reach” of up to 7,000 local businesses by the end of 2016. Ultimately it’s predicted that up to 15,000 businesses across the city could stand to benefit when the full city-wide deployment is completed.
Greg Mesch, CityFibre CEO, said:
“We’re delighted to be partnering with HighNet to launch Scotland’s newest Gigabit City. HighNet have made this project possible and their strong customer base and impressive partner network will be crucial to its success. This announcement marks our third Gigabit City project in Scotland, and upon its completion, CityFibre will have an established network presence in Scotland’s four largest cities, making us the largest wholesale fibre infrastructure provider in the country after BT Openreach.”
David J Siegel, Managing Director of HighNet, added:
“This fantastic collaboration marks a step change in HighNet’s evolution as a Business-to-Business ISP and we are looking forward to providing Glasgow’s business sector with best in class connectivity upon which they can develop and grow their business. Access to high quality, high capacity Internet capability can be truly transformational and we are delighted to be leading the charge in Glasgow. CityFibre’s track record in creating Gigabit cities is unparalleled and we are excited at the opportunities this partnership will create.”
At present there’s no word on how much this effort will cost or the time-scale for full completion, although CityFibre have made generally good progress in their other projects (e.g. Aberdeen, Coventry, Edinburgh, Peterborough and York). The operator typically tends to target city-centre areas first and after that their roll-out will become much more tightly focused on expanding to where the local demand is strongest.
However it’s worth noting that Cityfibre aren’t the only fibre optic game in town, not since Hyperoptic announced in September 2015 that their own Gigabit capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network was also being rolled out to parts of the city (here).
Not forgetting that Virgin Media and BT already have good coverage of Glasgow via their respective cable and hybrid-fibre broadband networks, although there are a fair few pockets that still need filling and which would benefit from Cityfibre’s competition.
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