First Derby residents experience full fibre benefits as CityFibre project progresses

Published: 28 July 2021

More than 8,000 broadband users in parts of Derby are set for a digital upgrade now that they can benefit from the fastest, most reliable, and highest capacity internet services available in the UK.

CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, has now completed its network rollout in parts of Mackworth, Allestree, Mickleover, Littleover, Abbey, Arboretum and Darley, which means businesses and residents can now order services for installation.

This marks a major milestone in CityFibre’s £45m project, which aims to future-proof Derby by ensuring its digital infrastructure is able to support the growing data consumption of residents, businesses and services in an increasingly digital world. Once the entire build has been completed in 2025, almost every home and business will have access to full fibre broadband.

Full fibre is currently available to less than 20 per cent of UK premises, making residents in parts of Derby some of the first in the country to benefit from the best available digital communications technology in their homes.

Speaking of this latest milestone, Dominika Walker, CityFibre’s City Manager for Derby said,

It’s a year on since we first started digging in Derby and it’s great to be able to celebrate this milestone by offering members of the community all the benefits full fibre connectivity brings.

We would like to thank residents across Derby who have been extremely patient with us as we have built our infrastructure and look forward to giving more people in the area the opportunity to connect to our network, unlocking unbeatable homeworking, home learning and digital entertainment experiences.

Unlike many of the copper-based ‘fibre broadband’ services available today, full fibre networks 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 so everyone at home can work, study, stream, or game simultaneously, and provide connectivity users can depend on.

A full fibre connection also goes far beyond simply enabling accessing to the latest entertainment at lightning speed. As an essential digital utility, full fibre boosts households and businesses alike, with experts saying it will drive a range of economic benefits, such as making us more productive and innovative. 

Where CityFibre builds its full fibre networks, ISPs (internet service providers) ‘light them up’ to deliver some of the fastest and best value broadband packages available.

In Derby, full fibre broadband services are now being offered by TalkTalk, Giganet and Air Broadband, with an increasing range of broadband providers expected to join the network soon.

Residents interested in giving their home broadband a boost can find out more about the build and register their interest here.

McCann Construction is delivering the build programme on CityFibre’s behalf with a workforce that has been recruited locally. CityFibre’s aim is for the build to be substantially completed in Derby by 2025.

For more information about CityFibre and its project in Derby visit the CityFibre website. 

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