The City of York Council (CYC) has confirmed that its newly completed £13.7 million fibre optic broadband network, which connects up over 100 public service sites (e.g. schools, council offices and libraries etc.), will be expanded later this year to offer free public wireless internet access in local parks.

CityFibre Holdings confirmed on Monday, as part of our exclusive interview with the firm (here), that it had finally completed the underlying project alongside Pinacl Solutions. It should be noted that CityFibre originally began the work last January 2010 under its old name of H2O Networks (here).

Several delays, not least with the well documented financial problems at H2O's old parent firm (i3 Group), ultimately caused the expected completion date to slip by almost a year from September 2010. CityFibre and Pinacl Solutions are contracted to support the network for a total of eight years.


It's understood that the fibre optic network cost £4.2m to build and the remaining cash will be used for the ongoing maintenance and support. SearchNetworking has added to today's news by suggesting that the council is already entertaining the idea of a free city-wide Wi-Fi network, although nothing has been officially confirmed.