Gigabit City success
Stirling is set to become Scotland’s fourth Gigabit City.
Working in partnership with network specialists MLL Telecoms and Stirling Council, leading pure fibre infrastructure provider CityFibre will begin deploying the first phase of a state-of-the-art new fibre infrastructure in June.
The initial development phase is expected to take 14 months, delivering 20km of infrastructure spanning from Bannockburn to the Stirling Agricultural Centre.
The copper-free, ultra-fast network will connect over 30 Stirling Council sites including schools, libraries, offices and community facilities, transforming services and boosting productivity across all areas of council operations. It will also provide a “future-proof platform” for further digital developments, such as connecting mobile masts and delivering safer city infrastructure such as smart CCTV and street-lighting.
The new network will be extended over time to offer the majority of Stirling’s 3000 businesses affordable access to gigabit speed services. The ultra-fast services are said to be “vastly superior” to those available to many businesses throughout the country and will provide them with “a huge competitive advantage”.
Council leader Johanna Boyd said: “This leap forward for our digital connectivity will make our existing businesses more competitive, encourage new businesses to the city centre, and enable us to deliver education and skills programmes, which not only ensure our students are the most digitally skilled in Scotland, but also provide people of all circumstances and skill levels with opportunities for employment. It will allow those accessing council services to do so faster.
She added: “Our City Deal success has truly unlocked Stirling’s digital potential. We’ve been clear we want Stirling to be one of the most digitally connected cities in Europe, and this project is an essential step in helping us realise that ambition.”
James McClafferty, CityFibre’s Head of Regional Development in Scotland, added: “By providing unlimited bandwidth and true fibre connectivity, CityFibre’s privately funded investment in Stirling will benefit all areas of the community. As the project progresses we expect Stirling to benefit economically. We are already seeing this emerge in our UK Gigabit City projects and in others globally.”
Ross Duke, MLL Telecom’s Technology Director said, “Our role will be to make sure this happens seamlessly and securely, so we can deliver the best communication experience”.
CityFibre is leading Gigabit City projects in 40 other UK cities including in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Last year, council officials told councillors installation works were likely to be the same as any other utilities project. There would be liaison with utilities companies to try to minimise disruption and an embargo on work in some areas to avoid disruption, particularly to next year’s Stirling Marathon.