Cityfibre Confirm Gigabit Fibre Optic Network for Leeds and Bradford

As expected Cityfibre has today confirmed that the two cities of Leeds and Bradford in Yorkshire (England) have become the latest to benefit from their ultrafast Gigabit capable fibre optic (FTTP) broadband and Ethernet data network, which can connect local public sector and business sites.

The news is by no means a surprise because the operator already mentioned it as part of a new partnership deal with two business ISPs, which was announced earlier this month (here). At the time Cityfibre stated that Exa Networks had committed 250 new connections in Bradford, while Diva Telecom have offered an initial commitment of 100 connections and most would be in Leeds.

The new network reflects the commercialisation of nearly 200km of pure fibre optic infrastructure in the cities and becomes part of the operator’s on-going plan to deploy their ultrafast fibre optic network services into as many as 50 UK cities by 2020, thanks in no small part to the recent acquisition of KCOM’s UK network assets (here).

Apparently there’s also more to come, with Cityfibre noting that they have “extensive fibre networks across the region that it will be launching in the coming months.”

Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre, said:

“As thirst for greater internet speeds continues to grow in all sectors, it’s fantastic to be able to offer cities the world-class digital infrastructure they need to meet the demand. As Gigabit Cities, Leeds and Bradford will be on the digital front foot, able to compete and succeed in a digital world.

We have already invested over £70m in next generation digital infrastructure across the North, and now businesses in Leeds and Bradford will be able to capitalise on this to build better-connected, more innovative, companies.”

David Cawthray, City of Bradford Metropolitan Council, added:

“This announcement is great news for Bradford. Reliable, ultrafast gigabit speed connectivity is crucial for businesses across the city to compete on the national and international stage. The CityFibre network will support the growth of Bradford’s thriving entrepreneurial business community as well as other bandwidth hungry organisations allowing them to transform the way they operate.

As a Gigabit City, Bradford will be able to set itself alongside the most digitally advanced locations in Europe, allowing the council to further our digital agenda quicker than ever before. We are delighted to see CityFibre continue its investment in Yorkshire.”

It’s worth pointing out that Cityfibre aren’t the only Gigabit game in town for Leeds, with Hyperoptic also rolling out their service in the city (here) and unlike Cityfibre they are also catering for residential apartments as well as businesses. Naturally other operator’s, such as BT and Virgin Media, can also deploy Leased Lines with similar speeds, but they’re usually more expensive.

Otherwise local businesses can find out more and register their interest at cityfibre.com/yorkshire .