19th Mar 2015 07:00
For immediate release | 19 March 2015 |
CITYFIBRE INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS PLC
('CityFibre' or the 'Group' or the 'Company')
Completion of Peterborough network construction
CityFibre (AIM: CFHL), a leading designer, builder, owner, and operator of fibre optic infrastructure in UK towns and cities, is pleased to announce the completion of its Peterborough network deployment, and the conversion of 102 pre-registered business customers to a contractual relationship.
Pending the handover of a final group of council sites, CityFibre has completed the construction of its 90km Gigabit City network in Peterborough, less than 11 months from starting construction. Known as the Peterborough CORE, the network connects 107 public sector sites, including administrative offices, data centres, schools and hospitals, providing a future-proofed network for Peterborough Council and its IT services provider, Serco.
As part of CityFibre's 'Well Planned City' network design, the Peterborough CORE has been deployed to benefit the city's previously underserved business community. More than 1000 businesses (25% of the businesses in the city) registered their interest in services as part of the 'Gig Up Peterborough' pre-registration campaign. To date, 102 businesses have now signed orders for services from CityFibre's service provider partners including Businesscoms, Rydal Communications, Consulting Networks and Cyberware.
Consistent with the Company's demand-led approach to incremental investment, demand aggregation activities have triggered network extension to four new business parks in the city including Fengate, Lynch Wood, Cygnet Park and Orton Southgate. Deployment to these areas, not included in the original network plan, will bring gigabit connectivity within reach of a further 1000 businesses.
Greg Mesch, Chief Executive Officer of CityFibre, commented:
"In less than one year Peterborough has been transformed into a Gigabit City. With a future-proof digital infrastructure at its heart, Peterborough has a digital head-start on the rest of the country. Its public sector is already more efficient and capable of innovation, while its business community is becoming more competitive and productive.
"Through Peterborough's Gigabit City project we have demonstrated the appetite for next generation gigabit services by both the public and private sector and the speed at which cities throughout the nation can benefit from our model. Our network is already growing organically as more sites are connected and more users come to understand the improvements which gigabit connectivity can deliver to their experience and bottom line."
Marco Cereste, Leader of Peterborough City Council, commented:
"We cannot overstate the value of a gigabit speed digital infrastructure to our city. As a Gigabit City, we have a significant competitive advantage over other areas and are able to lead the way with an innovative and integrated digital strategy. Businesses are hungry for bandwidth and we recognise that because of this network, Peterborough is becoming an even more attractive place to build a business."
For further information, please contact:
CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings plc | www.cityfibre.com |
Greg Mesch, Chief Executive Officer | Tel: 0845 293 0774 |
Terry Hart, Chief Financial Officer |
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James Enck, Head of Investor Relations | Tel: 0333 150 6283 |
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finnCap (Nomad and Joint Broker) | www.finncap.com |
Stuart Andrews / Christopher Raggett (Corporate Finance) | Tel: 020 7220 0500 |
Simon Johnson (Corporate Broking) |
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Liberum (Joint Broker) | www.liberum.com |
Steve Pearce / Steven Tredget / Richard Bootle | Tel: 020 3100 2000 |
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Vigo Communications | www.vigocomms.com |
Jeremy Garcia / Fiona Henson | Tel: 020 7016 9570 |
About CityFibre:
CityFibre enables gigabit connectivity through designing, building, owning, and operating fibre optic network infrastructure. It is the largest independent provider of fibre infrastructure to mid-sized cities and major towns across the UK, providing gigabit-capable infrastructure for enterprise and public sector organisations, service providers, mobile network operators and businesses.
The Company owns and operates 490 route kilometres of local access networks serving over 800 customer locations in 60 towns and cities in the UK, including York, Coventry, Peterborough, Huddersfield, Hull, Sheffield, Newcastle, Dundee, Bath, Derby and Doncaster.
To date the Company has launched four Gigabit City projects in York, Peterborough, Coventry and Aberdeen, 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. The CityFibre COREs are deployed using the Company's Well Planned City (WPC) design philosophy, in which its city-wide core fibre infrastructure is designed with thousand-strand fibre cables in dual ducts optimally routed to serve the present and future demand of the public sector, mobile base stations, business park estates, and ultimately designed to serve as feeder and distribution network for Fibre-to-the- Home deployments.
CityFibre is also 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 tens of thousands of homes 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).
To find out more, please visit: www.cityfibre.com
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