Thousands of homes and businesses in Preston can now access faster and more reliable internet services thanks to progress made by CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform.
CityFibre is investing £30m to make Preston one of the best digitally connected communities. Following the latest phase of construction, homes in Frenchwood and Fishwick now have access to full fibre connectivity, and residents can now sign up for lightning-fast broadband services from UK launch partner Vodafone, on selected Vodafone Pro Broadband, as well as a wide range of other internet service providers including TalkTalk, Giganet and many others.
The build will continue across the city throughout 2023, with works now also underway in Ribbleton, Holme Slack, Deep Dale, Gallows Hill and Grange. Once the city-wide rollout reaches completion in 2024, almost every home and business locally will have access to full fibre services from a choice of internet service providers.
Julie Derbyshire, CityFibre’s Area Manager for Preston said: “Digital infrastructure has become the cornerstone of modern day-life, and the people we have spoken to say they are already reaping the benefits of lightning fast and more reliable full fibre broadband. We look forward to boosting Preston’s connectivity even further as we continue to advance the project and would like to thank local residents and businesses for bearing with the short-term disruption.”
Unlike copper-based ‘fibre broadband’ services available today, full fibre networks use 100% fibre optic infrastructure to carry data at lightning speed all the way from the home to the point of connection. This gives users consistently faster speeds for upload and download (up to 1,000 Mbps), near limitless bandwidth, so that everyone at home can work, study, stream or game simultaneously, while providing connectivity people can depend on.
Cllr Borrow, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regulation at Preston City Council said: “Preston is currently undergoing a huge transformation of its digital infrastructure which will benefit residents for years to come. These improvement works to the city’s connectivity will provide many of our residents’ homes with the option of accessing high speed, full fibre broadband.”
Construction is being delivered by Network Plus on behalf of CityFibre. The team is using a range of construction methods while working in close partnership with Preston City Council and local communities to deliver a fast rollout while managing potential disruption.
As the network is completed in each neighbourhood, CityFibre will designate the homes ‘ready for service’, which means residents can choose to connect to full fibre-enabled broadband services when they go live in their area.
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 www.cityfibre.com/PR
