Cityfibre UK Restart FTTP Rollout in Chester with New Contractor

Homes in the Cathedral City of Chester in Cheshire may be pleased to learn that Cityfibre has resumed their build of a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network. Work came to a halt in the summer (here) after the operator ended their relationship with local civil engineering partner Telent.

Back in August 2022 we revealed that a number of Cityfibre’s full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network builds had been disrupted after the operator, for unspecified reasons (disputes over costs, delivery progress and work quality can sometimes be to blame), ended their local relationship with Telent. But while the situation in Blackpool and Preston was swiftly resolved, the £23m project in Chester (here) took a bit longer.

The good news is that Cityfibre has now awarded the build contract for the city to Makehappen Group (MHG). At the time of writing, we couldn’t see much build activity taking place from them in Chester, but they plan to “be up to full speed in January” 2023.

A spokesperson for Cityfibre told ISPreview.co.uk:

“We have appointed Makehappen Group (MHG) as our new build partner in Chester and work has resumed on our full fibre rollout. We’ll be up to full speed in January and will continue to work closely with MHG and the council to connect as bring as many homes and businesses as possible in Chester the fastest and most reliable digital connectivity available.

We’re investing £23m to future-proof Chester’s digital infrastructure for decades to come and we want to thank residents for their patience and support as we transform the area’s digital capabilities.”

The build forms part of Cityfibre’s wider project to cover up to 8 million premises (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity and c.£4.9bn debt) – across around 285 cities, towns and villages (c.30% of the UK) – by the end of 2025 (here). So far, the operator has already covered 2 million UK premises, including 1.8m Ready For Service (RFS) via ISPs (here). The network will also pass around 800k businesses, 400k local authority sites and 250k 5G access points.