ITS Technology’s Full Fibre Network Set to Go Live in Preston

The ITS Technology Group has today announced that, as part of the operator’s wider ‘Faster Britain‘ digital infrastructure project, their new gigabit-speed and business focused “full fibre” broadband network is set to start going live in the Lancashire (Northern England) city of Preston from the end of April 2021.

The new fibre optic network will span West from the Ribbleton Park area to the Docklands, through the city centre, from Moor Park and through to Deepdale. The infrastructure also connects Preston to ITS’ existing network in Blackpool, providing access for businesses to access the high-speed fibre network along the route including Freckleton, Warton, Lytham and Lytham St Annes.

The build phase has been going on for the past couple of months and, as part of that, they appear to be making strong use of Openreach’s existing cable ducts and poles to run their own fibre (i.e. Physical Infrastructure Access), which has also helped to minimise local disruption via street works.

Daren Baythorpe, CEO of ITS, said:

“I am excited to launch our new network in Preston, extending our significant presence in West Lancashire. As part of our Faster Britain UK network businesses in Preston will feel the benefit of full fibre. And being part of our programme ensures that Preston exceeds the government’s goals for everyone in the UK to have access to ‘gigabit capable’ connectivity by 2033.

For the last two years we have been working with councils, local businesses, groups and associations to understand which areas will benefit from full fibre network investment, and I’m delighted we will be switching on Preston in April.

As the legacy copper-based network becomes obsolete and we move towards its switch off, our mission is to deliver full fibre, gigabit capable connectivity to where it is needed. The pandemic has highlighted just how vital a fast internet connection is to enable people to continue to keep in touch, particularly when circumstances are keeping us apart. Faster Britain is fixing the problem around gigabit capable connectivity which isn’t available to everyone.

We’re excited to be playing such an integral role in the digital aspirations of businesses across West Lancashire.”

The announcement claims that, to date, many businesses in Preston have struggled to access speeds over 70Mbps (source: Fair Internet Report), although it’s worth noting that the vast majority of the city is already covered by Virgin Media’s gigabit-capable network. Openreach and Hyperoptic also have a limited amount of FTTB/P coverage in the area.

Local businesses are being asked to register their interest here – www.fasterbritain.com/preston. We should point out that the 2033 date mentioned by Daren above (this was also specifically for “full fibre“) stopped being relevant the moment PM Boris Johnson came to power, thus we no longer have a solid Government target for achieving 100% coverage.