Partnership between CityFibre & IFB delivers major digital upgrade of one of the UK’s biggest city economies
London and Aberdeen, 3rd September 2014 – Leading network infrastructure provider CityFibre today announced plans to build a city-wide, state-of-the-art pure fibre network in Aberdeen creating Scotland’s first Gigabit City. The project is made possible by a collaboration with Scotland-based Internet For Business (IFB), a local and national ICT service provider with a long and successful track record in the Aberdeen market. CityFibre’s modern digital infrastructure will bring transformational gigabit speeds within reach of over 6000 companies as well as hundreds of public sector sites including schools, universities, libraries, hospitals and government agency buildings across the city.
CityFibre has been working closely with IFB to underpin its multi-million pound investment in the city with plans to upgrade and migrate hundreds of business customers onto the new infrastructure. The network will be constructed in-line with CityFibre’s ‘Well Planned City’ model, accommodating current and future capacity requirements from the public and private sectors, mobile operators and data centre providers. It can also act as the backbone for any future deployment of fibre to the home for the city’s residents.
The Gigabit City project is critical for Aberdeen which has become a national economic powerhouse accounting for 28% of Scotland’s GDP and in which 30% of the country’s top 100 businesses are located. It has the second highest broadband take-up rate in the UK, but an absence of any cable infrastructure. With a new competitive Gigabit fibre infrastructure at its heart, it will leapfrog other Scottish cities to become the best digitally connected city in Scotland.
As in CityFibre’s other Gigabit City projects, the rollout will be demand-led to ensure the network reaches the businesses and commercial sites most in need. CityFibre will shortly launch a demand aggregation campaign allowing businesses to register their interest and help shape the network route.
Based on a number of key sites selected in conjunction with IFB, planning for the network’s deployment is already underway and will initially focus on the centre and south of the city, including key industrial estates such as Tullos and Altens, as well as the north as far as Dyce and The Bridge of Don. Subject to demand, the build programme will be extended to areas in the west of the city, such as Westhill and Kingswells.
CityFibre CEO Greg Mesch commented: “We selected Aberdeen as it represents the perfect opportunity for a Gigabit City project. Its economic power, business makeup and absence of alternative network mean that Aberdeen will be in a position to take full advantage of this transformational digital infrastructure. Alongside IFB, CityFibre is honoured to be able to add to the proud history of this city by building a modern digital infrastructure that will future proof Aberdeen, its businesses and residents for the next 100 years.”
Graeme Gordon, CEO of IFB, said, “We are delighted to be working with CityFibre to give businesses in Aberdeen the opportunity to grow. We know how important connectivity services are to businesses in Aberdeen as there is always an increasing demand for more bandwidth. This new fibre network will provide a long-term foundation for businesses’ digital requirements, sending a signal to businesses that Aberdeen is a city with room to grow and progress, and providing future investors confidence in the services that the city can offer.”
Commenting on the initiative, Aberdeen City Council leader Jenny Laing said: “We are hugely excited to see CityFibre and IFB bring this project to life ensuring that Aberdeen city and shire have a next generation digital infrastructure in place to further economic growth over the coming years. CityFibre’s decision to make Aberdeen a Gigabit City helps us to realise the ambitions laid out in Accelerate Aberdeen of being at the leading edge of the digital revolution, with the world-class connectivity essential for continued growth and helps lay the foundations for significant improvements for residential customers in the future.”
Press Briefing
A press briefing is scheduled for Tuesday 23rd September in Aberdeen. Venue details and timings will be announced in due course.
CityFibre Media Contact:
Michael House at FieldHouse Associates
michael@fieldhouseassociates.com
Internet For Business Media Contact
Claire Douglas at Tricker PR
01224 646491
About CityFibre
CityFibre is a builder of Gigabit Cities and the largest independent provider of pure fibre infrastructure in the UK. The company designs, builds, owns and operates gigabit speed fibre networks in mid-sized cities and major towns, for the public and private sectors. These empower data-hungry users, unleashing unlimited speeds on future-proofed technology, and ensure that the UK’s regional centres remain truly open for business in a digital age.
With network in 57 UK towns and cities, CityFibre serves a vast array of public sector organisations, service providers and businesses. It has also begun three Gigabit City projects in York, Peterborough and Coventry where city-wide pure fibre networks known as ‘COREs’ bring world-class Internet connectivity and the benefits of gigabit speeds to every aspect of the city’s community.
CityFibre is a proud member of a joint venture with TalkTalk and Sky. Established in early 2014, the collaboration aims to prove the viability of gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) networks and services for homes and businesses. Work is currently underway to connect almost every home and businesses in York to a future-proof FTTP modern digital infrastructure.
CityFibre is based in London, United Kingdom, and its shares trade on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: CFHL). Further information on the company can be found here: www.cityfibre.com
About Internet For Business
For two decade IFB has been providing critical connectivity and ICT services to the UK market place. Its key markets include the demanding on and offshore Oil and Gas sector, professional services and public and third sector. IFB provide a range of managed digital services across the UK from their Aberdeen Data Centre. It designs, deploys, manages and supports key services including Cloud, Backup & Recovery, Internet Access, Networks, Hosting, Workplace Recovery and Telecoms through national, multi-Gbit/s network that links Aberdeen, Edinburgh and London points of presence.
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