Internet users across most of the south of Portsmouth are now able to connect their homes and businesses to the fastest and most reliable broadband infrastructure available thanks to progress made by CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, on the city’s new full fibre network rollout.
CityFibre has now made the majority of homes in the Southsea, Fratton, Milton, Eastney, Copnor and Burrfields areas of the city ‘ready for service’, which means residents can choose to connect to the full fibre-enabled broadband services on offer in their area.
Customers can sign up to UK launch partner Vodafone, TalkTalk, IDNet, Digital Homes and Giganet, with other providers expected to join the network soon. The rollout is now progressing into new areas in the north of the city with construction well underway in Hilsea and Anchorage Park. Last year, CityFibre laid 315km of full fibre digital infrastructure beneath the streets of Portsmouth, enough to go round Portsea Island 15 times. Once the city-wide rollout reaches completion, almost every home and business locally will have access to full fibre services from a choice of internet service providers.
Jon Russell, CityFibre’s City Manager for Portsmouth said: “CityFibre is making great progress in Portsmouth. Residents, businesses, and community groups I’ve spoken to have been amazed at just how much fibre we’ve put down in the last few months. Reaching this latest milestone means residents can now start to benefit from this digital investment that will future-proof their connectivity for decades to come.”
Portsmouth is one of an increasing number of locations in the UK to benefit from CityFibre’s £4bn Gigabit City investment programme which will bring new and better broadband infrastructure within reach of up to eight million homes and businesses nationwide. In Portsmouth alone, CityFibre is investing £32m to make it one of the world’s best digitally connected communities.
Unlike copper-based ‘fibre broadband’ and co-axil cable services available today, full fibre networks use 100% fibre optic cables to carry data at lightning speed all the way to and from the home and the point of connection. This gives users consistently faster speeds for upload and download (up to 1,000 Mbps), with near limitless bandwidth so everyone at home can work, study, stream or game simultaneously, while providing connectivity users can depend on.
Construction is being delivered by CNN Communications Ltd. on behalf of CityFibre. The team is using a range of construction methods while working in close partnership with Portsmouth City Council and local communities to deliver a fast rollout while managing potential disruption.
In addition to its digital investment in the city, CityFibre has also supported the provision of digital activities within the community, teaming up with Seekers Create to bring an interactive trail to Portsmouth last year which encouraged families to explore the city, and Portsmouth in the Community, to ensure the new John Jenkins Stadium can help maximise the benefits of digital inclusion.
Residents interested in giving their home broadband a boost can find out more about the build, pre-register their interest and find out when new ISPs join at cityfibre.com/homes.