Milestone for £120m digital infrastructure scheme

CityFibre’s £120m project to revolutionise Leeds’ digital infrastructure has reached a new milestone with the beginning of work in Morley.

It adds to CityFibre’s growing presence in south Leeds, where construction is underway in Beeston, Hunslet, Belle Isle and Middleton.

Full fibre broadband is currently only available to around 12% of UK premises and is regarded as the best in connectivity for its speed, near unlimited bandwidth and reliability.

In west Leeds, Farsley, Hough End and Bramley are the latest towns to be connected, in addition to a live site in Stanningley.

In the centre of the city, CityFibre has also laid network foundations along the Headrow, working with Leeds City Council and Sisk, to allow for future infrastructure work to take place.

Leeds is among the first locations in the UK to benefit from CityFibre’s Gigabit City investment programme, which is set to invest up to £4bn nationally to bring gigabit capable full fibre infrastructure to up to eight million homes across the UK and provide a future-proof platform for digital growth.

Vodafone will use CityFibre’s network to bring Vodafone Gigafast Broadband services to the city, with services now live for the first connected residents across south and west Leeds.

O’Connor Utilities Ltd is delivering the construction programme on CityFibre’s behalf.

Kim Johnston, CityFibre’s city manager for Leeds, said: “During this crisis we have learned just how critical reliable internet connectivity is to our lives.

“In a short time we have adapted to home working, home learning and maintaining contact with our friends and family from remote locations using connected devices.

“And, as we look forward, it’s clear digital infrastructure will play a key role in driving recovery.

“This is why we are driving forward with our roll-out plan. Since work began in Leeds in June last year, we have seen great progress in our mission to bring reliable, high capacity, gigabit-capable broadband within reach of nearly every home and business in Leeds.

“So, as we move into new areas of the city, we will continue to work closely with our local authority partners and do all we possibly can to deliver a swift roll out, manage disruption and minimise the time we spend in each location.”