Allan McEwan (L) and MP Drew Hendry (R)

CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, has announced plans to extend its build footprint for Inverness, enabling thousands ...

Facebook
X
LinkedIn

CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, has announced plans to extend its build footprint for Inverness, enabling thousands more homes to access its full fibre network and reliable high-speed broadband services.

CityFibre is investing a further £4.9m to boost the almost £20m initial commitment, which has already brought the best available connectivity within reach of thousands of premises across the city.

In December of last year, CityFibre hit a major milestone in Inverness when it officially passed the halfway mark on its original build plan. Now, with huge demand for full fibre services, neighbourhoods including Inshes, Lochardil, Kinmylies and Milton of Leys are set to benefit next, with work already underway across some of these areas.

Homes in Balloch, Culloden, Smithton, Westhill, Cradlehall, Drakies and Millburn, as well as parts of Hilton and Crown are now ready for service. Customers are already enjoying fast and reliable broadband services through BrawBand and TalkTalk, with further service providers expected to be announced in the future.

GCU Utilities Ltd is delivering the project on CityFibre’s behalf. The company will be utilising modern build techniques to ensure a fast and efficient roll out and will continue to work hand in hand with CityFibre and The Highland Council to manage any disruption.

Allan McEwan, CityFibre’s City Manager for Inverness, said: “At CityFibre, we pride ourselves on being agile and flexible. There is clear demand in Inverness for full fibre and we’re working hard to ensure as many people as possible benefit from this new, future-proof network. Confirmation of this significant additional investment is great news and will see us reach even more premises than originally planned.”


The extension of the build footprint in Inverness has been welcomed by Drew Hendry, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey. He said: “This announcement of a further investment into Inverness’ digital future is fantastic news for residents and businesses across the city. I know that many residents are already feeling the benefits full fibre infrastructure can bring, so it is fantastic to see this service being rolled out to a wider area at a time when quality connectivity has never been so important. Becoming a Gigabit City is going to bring massive benefits to Inverness and this latest investment is a great show of confidence for the city and its future.”

Full fibre networks, unlike many of the copper-based ‘fibre broadband’ services available today, use 100% fibre optic cables to carry data at light speed all the way from the home to the point of connection. This gives users speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps for upload and download, near limitless bandwidth and connectivity users can depend on. 

A full fibre connection also goes far beyond simply enabling access to the latest entertainment at lightning speed. As an essential digital utility, full fibre boosts households and businesses alike, with experts saying it will drive a range of economic benefits, such as making us more productive and innovative. 

Related stories from SBN

Specialist psychotherapy clinic grows to meet demand
Scottish traffic management company becomes employee-owned
Major regeneration set for Ravenscraig as planning application submitted
Utilities to power the economic growth of Scotland’s three largest cities to 2050
Converge appoints new executive director to lead entrepreneurship programme into next phase of growth
Huge increase in early bookings for 2025 holidays in Scotland

Other stories from SBN