Internet provider becomes first to win contract under big Government scheme
A Bradford company will become the first to supply internet services under a massive national Government scheme to transform the UK’s digital infrastructure.
In a major coup for the business, Exa Networks will deliver services over the network provided by CityFibre, which has been approved to run the first contract awarded under the Government’s £190m Local Full Fibre Network (LFFN) challenge, which aims to deliver superfast broadband across the country.
Full fibre will remove the current reliance on copper wire, delivering broadband through pure fibre connections. The Government launched its LFFN Challenge Fund in November last year to stimulate commercial investment in full fibre networks which are seen as the “gold standard” for fast and reliable broadband.
In March, it announced the first £95m wave of funding covering 13 areas and the first contract has been awarded to cover 152 council sites in the West Sussex Council area, including Bognor Regis, Burgess Hill, Chichester, Crawley, Haywards Heath, Horsham, Littlehampton, Worthing and Shoreham.
CityFibre will build, own and operate the full fibre network and Exa Networks, which is based in Bolton Road, Bradford, will provide internet connections to education and businesses, along with their local partners in Sussex, JSPC Computer Services.
Work on construction of the new network will start in August and is due to be completed early next year.
Exa Networks, which is one of the leading internet connectivity providers for education and business across the UK, will connect schools and companies to its ultra-fast service called DarkLight, as the full fibre network passes each location.
Mark Cowgill, co-founder and director of Exa Networks, said: “Exa is delighted to be expanding our DarkLight service into West Sussex. “It is an area in which we have worked very closely with our accredited partner, JSPC, for the past six years, and we have all been working very hard to bring our multi-gigabit service to the area. This will make a huge difference to schools and businesses throughout the county.”
