Fibre optic network builder CityFibre has issued a brief progress update on their efforts to deploy a new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network in the Bedfordshire (England) town of Luton, which began two years ago (here) and has now covered a total of 35,000 premises.
The operator now claims to have “completed most of its rollout in the eastern area of Luton“, although it’s unclear how long it will take them to finish the city-wide deployment, and they face several gigabit-capable competitors in the shape of Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre) and Openreach. Not to mention smaller deployments by the likes of Grain, Glide, Hyperoptic and OFNL.
The work supports CityFibre’s wider ambition of covering up to 8 million UK premises (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity and c.£4.9bn debt) – across over 285 cities, towns and villages (c.30% of the UK), although it’s unclear precisely when they will achieve this target (the original goal was for the end of 2025, but their current build + M&A plan may only get them to c.6m). The operator currently covers 3.6 million UK premises (3.3m RFS).
Neil Madle, CityFibre’s Partnership Manager for Luton, said:
“We’re delighted to offer the people of Luton all the benefits of full fibre connectivity, with over 35,000 premises now Ready for Service. CityFibre’s investment in the town will allow more residents to unlock seamless homeworking, streaming and gaming. We would also like to thank residents for their patience as we have rolled out this essential digital infrastructure, which is set to benefit the local community for years to come.”