CityFibre furthers gigabit in UK Midlands and claims £283m Blackpool boost

CityFibre has revealed Warwick and Leamington Spa as the next locations in line for a multimillion-pound investment in their digital infrastructure, as it continues its mission to create, by 2025, a UK-wide digital infrastructure that will reach up to eight million premises in 285 cities, towns and villages, plus 800,000 businesses, 400,000 local authority sites and 250,000 5G access points.

And as it was making the expansion into the Midlands towns, the company released details showing that the city of Blackpool is set for an economic boost valued at £283m from its own full-fibre roll-out.

In the latest implementation, CityFibre will invest £30m in a new network that will bring full fibre-enabled internet services within reach of almost every home and business in Warwick and Leamington Spa.

Across the UK, CityFibre is building new and better digital infrastructure for up to eight million homes and businesses through its nationwide full fibre roll-out. Construction work on the full-fibre network in Warwick and Leamington Spa has just begun in the Warwick All Saints and Woodloes ward.

Gigabit services will be available in Warwick and Leamington Spa from an increasing range of broadband providers. Across the UK, CityFibre is already working with launch partner Vodafone to supply full-fibre infrastructure for customers on selected Vodafone Pro Broadband plans and is working with other ISPs, including Giganet, IDNet, TalkTalk and Zen Internet.

Jody Tracey, Warwick District Council’s portfolio holder for transformation, said: “This is a significant development for our district, and we are delighted that, thanks to CityFibre, residents and community service providers, including the council, will be able to take advantage of improved connection speeds and offer households faster access to online services.”

One of the great attractions of Blackpool is its famous illuminations, and lighting up the seaside city’s fibre network is calculated to offer economic impacts including £167m in productivity benefits, £37m from a widened workforce, and £10m in local authority savings.

A study by consultancy Hatch, Economic impact of full fibre infrastructure from CityFibre’s network, estimated these benefits from CityFibre’s £60m investment in Blackpool over a 15-year period. It also identified £396m in gross added value from 5G services, £177m from the internet of things and £70m from smart city initiatives, such as intelligent traffic management systems and street lighting.

The report added that continuing transition to home and flexible working, supported by full-fibre access at home and in the office, is also unlocking access to a larger pool of labour for employers. In Blackpool, working productivity uplifts are estimated to exceed £9m.