CityFibre Start FTTP Broadband Rollout for Poole and Christchurch

CityFibre UK has today announced that they’re investing £30m to support the rollout of a new 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to homes and businesses in the Dorset towns of Poole and Christchurch, which will complement their existing deployment in the neighbouring city of Bournemouth.

All of this forms part of the operator’s wider £4bn investment programme, which aims to cover 1 million UK premises with their alternative FTTP network by the end of 2021 (so far almost 650,000 have already been completed) and then 8 million premises across 285 cities, towns and villages – c.30% of the UK (here). The latter target is expected to be “substantially completed” by the end of 2025.

A quick look at the local plans show that they appear to have started their deployment around Canford Heath and the Nuffield Industrial Estate in Poole, which is being supported by civil engineering firm CCN Communications Ltd.

Meanwhile, over in Christchurch, they’ve started work around the Somerford area. As usual, it will probably be a few more months before the first customers can connect.

Lucy Cooper, CityFibre’s City Manager for Bournemouth, said:

“Bournemouth was among the first UK cities to be earmarked for investment as part of our Gigabit City Investment programme, so it’s really exciting to be extending this project into Christchurch and Poole. As a native to Poole, I am very keen that residents and businesses across the entire district can benefit from our network too.

As the fastest, highest capacity and most reliable network technology available, Full Fibre will be key to ensuring that our digital needs and data demands continue to be met as we progress into the future. Our world has never been more connected, and our need for broadband services we can depend on is only going to grow and become more critical.”

Councillor Philip Broadhead, BCP Council, said:

“We welcome this additional private investment by CityFibre into Christchurch and Poole as we see it build on the success of Bournemouth’s Full Fibre journey since 2019. The entire project is delivering a modern, fit-for-purpose digital infrastructure that will futureproof residents and businesses for years to come.

BCP Council continues to work closely with the private sector to facilitate economic growth in the digital age, and CityFibre’s Full Fibre network will be vital in ensuring that where we live and work has a resilient and dynamic futureproof economy.”

CityFibre will face some gigabit-capable rivals in the two towns, with both areas being largely dominated by Virgin Media’s network. But outside them there isn’t much in the way of gigabit competition and Openreach have yet to announce any FTTP rollout plans for either of the towns.