Thousands more Aberdeen homes and businesses are set to benefit as CityFibre extends its full fibre plans.
CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, this week announced plans to extend its £40 million project to bring the best available connectivity to homes and businesses across Aberdeen.
Representing an additional investment of £19 million, the move will enable thousands more homes to access its full fibre network and reliable high-speed broadband services from a number of providers, including Vodafone, TalkTalk, Zen and GraniteGiG by Converged.
In October 2021, CityFibre hit a milestone when it passed 500km of fibre cabling laid across the Granite City, three years on from when work got underway on its network.
Now, with huge demand for full fibre services, additional areas are being added to the roll-out.
Locations
Homes in Woodside, Garthdee, Ruthrieston, Mannofield, Kincorth, Broomhill, Cove, Kaimhill, Ferryhill, Northfield, Tillydrone, Rosehill, Hazlehead, Airyhall, Mannofield, Hilton, Seaton and Torry are now ready for service.
Other areas yet to go live but set to benefit from the roll-out include Bridge of Don, Bucksburn, Stoneywood, Dyce, Rosemount, Mastrick, Sheddocksley and some areas of the city centre, with the extended project now expected to be largely complete by the end of this year.
Schools and libraries
In 2017, CityFibre connected schools, libraries and other public buildings in the city in partnership with Capita as part of the Scotland-wide Area Network (Swan) programme.
Following the award of this project, funded via the Aberdeen City Region Deal, CityFibre committed £40 million of private investment to deliver its full fibre network to homes and businesses across the city.
Build partner GCU is delivering the project on CityFibre’s behalf. The team will continue to work closely with CityFibre and Aberdeen City Council to manage disruption and use modern build techniques to ensure a fast and efficient roll-out.
Allan McEwan, CityFibre’s city manager for Aberdeen, said: “We’re making huge strides in delivering full fibre to homes and businesses across Aberdeen, and we’re thrilled to be able to bring our best-in-class network to even more of the city.
“At CityFibre, we pride ourselves on being agile and flexible. There is clear demand right across Aberdeen for full fibre services and we continue to build at pace to ensure as many people benefit from our network as soon as possible.”
Better and faster
Councillor Jenny Laing, vice-chair of the Aberdeen City Region Deal and leader of Aberdeen City Council, added: “In 2017 the Aberdeen City Region Deal invested in core digital infrastructure across the city.
“Roll forward to 2021 and thanks to that investment stimulating private investment from CityFibre, Aberdeen is now a Gigabit city.
“This new announcement, committing additional investment into the city, will allow more residents and businesses to access better and faster speeds as well as competitive pricing.”
Scottish Government Economy Secretary MSP Kate Forbes said: “This is a welcome boost for thousands of householders and was enabled by £2 million of funding from the Scottish Government, as part of our £10 million commitment to digital projects in the region.
“Accessing fast and reliable broadband has never been so important as we build a sustainable recovery from the pandemic.”
Connectivity
Full fibre networks, unlike many of the copper-based “fibre broadband” services available today, use 100% fibre optic cables to carry data at light speed all the way from the home to the point of connection.
This gives users speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps for upload and download, near limitless bandwidth and reliable connectivity.
Residents interested in CityFibre can find out more by visiting www.cityfibre.com/residential.
Housing market tracker: What are the average rent and home prices in your area?
