First city areas to benefit from £60million superfast broadband scheme go live
WORK to transform Coventry into one of the world’s most digitally connected cities has taken a step forward.
CityFibre has completed the first stage of its Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) project in the city.
The initiative is seeing the investment of more than £60million into Coventry to bring gigabit-speed internet connectivity to the city as part of a partnership with Vodafone.
The roll-out will benefit both residential addresses and business premises.
The first areas in Coventry which have gone live include parts of Longford, Upper Stoke and Foleshill.
The next areas set for an upgrade include more parts of Longford heading towards Bell Green.
To mark the milestone, two city councillors - Jim O’Boyle, cabinet member for jobs and regeneration, and digital champion, Richard Brown - took part in a tour of the first areas to benefit.
CityFibre has highlighted the benefits access to full fibre will bring.
Leigh Hunt, CityFibre’s city development manager for Coventry, said: “Coventry is among the first UK cities announced in our national rollout of full fibre broadband to five million UK homes and businesses.
“We’ve made huge progress and it is tremendous to see the first homes now reaping the benefits of full fibre.
“This state-of-the-art digital connectivity will have a huge economic impact on the city, increasing productivity and innovation within businesses and allowing households to embrace smart tech while giving people the opportunity to work at home with ease.
“Coventry City Council has been extremely supportive of the project, and really understands the benefits of excellent city-wide connectivity, so it was fantastic to meet with Councillor O’Boyle and Councillor Brown to give them a closer look at the progress which has been made so far.”
Cllr Brown, chair of Coventry City Council’s audit and procurement committee, said he was pleased with the progress being made.
He said: “A better and faster digital infrastructure will make a massive difference to local people and businesses.
“I’ve been really impressed with what I have seen, and CityFibre appear to be letting customers know why the improvement work is happening.
“This project is really positive for the city.”
Jonathan Conway, Vodafone’s city development manager for Coventry, said: “With the first customers now connected to Vodafone gigafast broadband, we have begun the digital transformation of Coventry.
“I’m really excited, talking to our customers and seeing the difference a full fibre network infrastructure can make to the way people live and work.”
To find out more about CityFibre’s Gigabit City vision for Coventry, go to www.cityfibre.com/gigabit-cities/coventry/