£30m Deal Sees ITS Rollout Full Fibre Across Liverpool City Region

The ITS Technology group is to lead a new consortium, which includes the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and NGE, that will invest £30 million in order to rollout a new 212km long gigabit-capable “full fibre” network across the Liverpool City Region so as to “create jobs and boost key sectors.”

As part of the initial deployment phase, ITS aims to create a “resilient fibre backhaul network“, connecting three transatlantic cables and major economic clusters in each of the Liverpool City Region’s six local authority areas (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens, Sefton and Wirral). After that they will proceed to install the digital infrastructure in carriageways, footpaths and cycle ways over the next 2 years.

Sadly, the announcement doesn’t spell out precisely what sites will be covered by this network, although the associated visualisation (map – pictured) seems to primarily only focus on businesses and public sector sites.

Connectivity to local homes is likely to be a separate consideration, which would require additional investment. Some existing networks, such as Openreach and Virgin Media among others, are already deploying gigabit broadband to local homes in parts of the region.

Daren Baythorpe, CEO of ITS Technology Group, said:

“ITS is delighted to be awarded this contract and be part of the team rolling out full fibre across the Liverpool City Region. This programme will have a transformational effect for everyone in the region and we are excited to be playing a central role in its delivery.

As shareholder partners in the Joint Venture we are proud to be contributing significantly to the tremendous growth in the digital economy of the region, and supporting national targets for full fibre access by 2033.

The awarding of the contract further confirms ITS’s place as a leading next generation network provider in the UK focused on helping businesses develop in the digital age. ITS with its expert team has a track record in deploying and managing gigabit capable full fibre networks, that help to drive innovation and productivity.”

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor, said:

“When I was elected, I made it a priority to make our region the most digitally connected anywhere in the country. Today we take a major step towards that, with the launch of this exciting partnership.

Our region was at the heart of the first industrial revolution, and I believe that this project can help us be at the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution, creating thousands of jobs and ultimately generating £1bn for the local economy. It will make us leaders in the industries of tomorrow and will help us attract talent and investment from around the world as others look to take advantage of our skills, infrastructure and expertise.

Local people and businesses will feel the benefits too – in the form of significantly faster speeds as well as the jobs and training opportunities, although the Government still needs to tackle the problem of digital exclusion.

And, best of all, it will all be 50% owned by us so we can continue to reap the benefits for years to come.

As we have done so many times before, this is our region seizing the initiative, leading the way and crafting what I hope will be a lucrative and successful new future that everybody in our region can benefit from.”

The announcement predicts that this investment could generate £105m for the local economy over 15 years, not least by creating and attracting new jobs, industries, investment and businesses to the region. “It is estimated that 100% full fibre coverage across the Liverpool City Region, building on the backhaul network, could be worth £1 billion,” but such estimates should be taken with a pinch of salt due to the difficulty of making an accurate model for the impact of faster speeds vs existing services.