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Press Release -- July 6th, 2016
Source: cityfibre
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Mobile internet use in Hull grows by 380% following dark fibre roll-out

CityFibre’s provision of dark fibre connectivity to EE and Three UK’s mobile masts has vastly improved network performance and customer experience in Hull

London & Kingston-upon-Hull, 6th July 2016 – Mobile internet use on Three’s network in Hull has increased by 380%.

This follows the completion of CityFibre’s dark fibre backhaul connections to mobile masts serving EE and Three customers.

The project has also enabled Three to upgrade the majority of the city’s mobile traffic to 4G, as well as accelerating and expanding network coverage throughout the city.

By investing in a dark fibre solution for backhaul connectivity to their masts – the first time this has been done in the UK – EE and Three UK have removed the bottlenecks in capacity that had affected mobile network speeds supported in the city.

The replacement of legacy copper-based connectivity with a dark fibre connection to mobile masts has made a huge difference to the data capacity and throughput of the networks.

Since the project began in January 2015, data traffic per site has increased by 380% on Three’s network in the area. These improvements are making a huge difference to mobile users’ experience, ensuring they can enjoy quicker internet speeds on their mobile devices for fast downloading and streaming.

Before the new solution, microwave links over the Humber estuary would regularly be affected by adverse weather conditions, such as heavy fog causing a significant drop in service capacity and quality. These have been replaced by dedicated dark fibre connections, future-proofing the networks’ capacity capabilities.

Nigel Rowe, Director of RAN & Connectivity, at Three said: “Customers in Hull had to suffer with a poor mobile network experience for far too long however they can now enjoy a fast and reliable network in the city. The surge in data usage shows they are getting the most from the network.”

Greg Mesch, Chief Executive Officer, CityFibre said: “Whilst only just completed, this pioneering project is already demonstrating the crucial role fibre has to play in the development of mobile infrastructure. Not only does it improve network performance capabilities and offer long term cost efficiencies, but it also marks the expansion of critically needed diversity in the mobile operators’ supply chains. We anticipate that demand for dark fibre by mobile operators will only continue to increase, and we look forward to supplying it to them.”

About Three

Three is a communications company. We are focused on making mobile better for everyone.

We want to give customers a quality mobile experience and address the industry issues that frustrate them.

We continue to look at ways of improving the experience we offer our customers.

Three carries 42% of the UK’s mobile data. Our network covers 98% of the UK population.

Three UK is a member of CK Hutchison Holdings which also has investments in mobile operations in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Sri Lanka, Sweden and Vietnam.

Three employs over 4,400 people across its offices in Maidenhead, Glasgow and Reading and its 347 retail stores.

For more information visit www.three.co.uk.

About CityFibre:

CityFibre is the national builder of Gigabit Cities, as the UK’s largest alternative provider of wholesale fibre network infrastructure. It has major metro duct and fibre footprints in 37 cities across the UK and a national long distance network that connects these cities to major data-centres across the UK and to key peering points in London.

The company has an extensive customer base spanning service integrators, enterprise and consumer service providers and mobile operators. Providing a portfolio of active and dark fibre services, CityFibre’s networks address 26,000 public sites, 7,400 mobile masts, 260,000 businesses and 3.7 million homes.

CityFibre is based in London, United Kingdom, and its shares trade on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: CITY). Further information on the company can be found at www.cityfibre.com

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