CityFibre UK Sets GBP20m FTTP Broadband Rollout for Solihull

CityFibre has today confirmed some details of their £20 million rollout plan for a new 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to homes and businesses in the large West Midlands (England) town of Solihull, which is home to 123,000 people. The first construction work is due to begin in April 2021.

All of this forms part of the operator’s wider £4bn investment project, 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.

The “town-wide full fibre network roll-out” in Solihull is due to be delivered via civil engineering firm Callan Connect (they’re also working on behalf of CityFibre in Coventry) and the first area to benefit will be Monkspath, with further expansion coming soon to surrounding villages including Dickens Heath, Bentley Heath, Dorridge and Knowle.

Leigh Hunt, CityFibre’s City Manager for Solihull, said:

“The past year has really highlighted the remarkable versatility of the internet and how much we depend upon all things digital for work, education and social connectivity with our family and friends. At CityFibre, we want to ensure that as many homes as possible in Solihull are linked to Full Fibre – the fastest and most resilient digital infrastructure available – to make our digital experience as seamless and effective as possible.

The investment also comes at a critical time for Solihull’s forward-thinking business community. Next-generation Full Fibre connectivity can drive innovation and productivity, ultimately giving businesses the platform they need to realise their growth ambitions. And it won’t just improve business locally – it will also help businesses take their products or services to an international audience.”

As usual CF’s main gigabit capable rival in the area will be Virgin Media, although Openreach’s FTTP network is also present in a fair bit of the area and Hyperoptic have connected the odd large building to their FTTB/P platform too.