UK-based CityFibre has awarded is first round of contracts to build partners as it mobilises to deliver four countywide full fibre rollouts being undertaken under the government’s ‘Project Gigabit’ programme. In a press release regarding the matter, CityFibre confirmed the appointments of: Granemore Group as its build partner for Cambridgeshire; OCU Group and CCN Communications for Hampshire; OCU Group for Norfolk; and Telelink, OCU Group and Granemore Group for Suffolk. As a result of the development, the first homes passed by the fibre network rollout will be in Cambridgeshire and are expected in October 2023.
Commenting, CityFibre CEO Greg Mesch said: ‘We’re excited to get our Project Gigabit rollouts underway, bringing faster and more reliable broadband connectivity to hundreds of thousands of rural homes and businesses areas that were at risk of missing out. With the legacy copper networks in these areas soon to be made obsolete, we look forward to providing all ISPs a powerful new network from which to better serve their customers.’
CityFibre has secured four contracts as part of the government’s Project Gigabit programme, under which it is expected to bring Gigabit-capable infrastructure to a total of 715,000 rural properties that would otherwise be excluded from commercial rollouts. Those contracts were awarded under a competitive process and include government subsidies totalling GBP387 million (USD476 million), with this to be supported by an additional private investment from CityFibre of GBP223 million.