CityFibre invests £17m in network rollout in Hampshire
Broadband internet service provider CityFibre has announced that it will invest £17 million in a new network across three new areas in Hampshire, England. Havant, Emsworth, Southbourne and Westbourne are the latest areas to benefit from CityFibre’s gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, with the provider saying that the build will bring fibre internet services to within reach of all premises in the areas.
Jonathan Russell, Area Manager for Havant, Emsworth, Southbourne and Westbourne, and leader of the project said: “The next chapter in Havant’s story starts here. Our builders will soon get to work– and we think people will be amazed by the difference it will make, both now and for generations to come."
“Havant borough is currently the third-worst mainland local authority area in the UK for fibre broadband coverage, with only 1.8 per cent of properties passed by full-fibre. Our investment will change that, and we cannot wait for residents and businesses to see what is possible with digital connectivity, which moves us forward into the future.”
The latest rollout will form part of CityFibre’s larger UK-wide FTTP deployment through its £4 billion Gigabit City Investment Programme. Through this programme, CityFibre is aiming to deliver its full fibre network to up to eight million premises across 285 cities, towns and villages in the UK. The provider aims to have this project, which would cover around 30 per cent of the UK, largely completed by the end of 2025.
According to planning permission details for the Havant area, CityFibre’s engineers are due to start work on the rollout in early June and will begin in the northern part of Havant. Construction work is being delivered on behalf of CityFibre by CCN, the contractors that are also working on CityFibre's network build in Poole and Christchurch.
As the work in each area is completed, CityFibre will announce which premises are ‘ready for service’, so that the residents can choose to connect to full fibre-enabled broadband services as they go live in the area.
