Bringing gigabit broadband to South Leeds as part of a city-wide digital transformation

City communications

Bringing gigabit broadband to South Leeds as part of a city-wide digital transformation

14 October 2019

Faster speeds, better reliability, less internet downtime. Sound like something you want? Well, the good news is that it is coming to South Leeds in the near future and once it’s built, it will be like making the jump to lightspeed compared to the slow lane of connectivity some have to live with. CityFibre, the country’s leading alternative provider of wholesale full fibre infrastructure, is coming to a road near you soon as it rolls out its Gigabit Cities project, in partnership with Vodafone. This is part of a nationwide effort to level up the country’s broadband. In Leeds, CityFibre is investing £120 million to realise this vision and make Leeds one of the first in the country to benefit from Gigabit-capable connectivity. Once completed, the city will have access to a state-of-the-art digital infrastructure that will reach nearly every home and business in the area, putting them a step ahead of other parts of the country. Full fibre broadband will not only revolutionise the online world at home by unlocking new forms of entertainment and making flexible home working a reality, it will provide a step change in internet speed and quality for the whole community. How’re we going to do it? In order to tap into all this brand-new technology, we do need to do some heavy lifting though. This comes in the form of laying the fibre optic network itself. All over the country we are working with carefully selected contractors to deploy our network and manage disruption. However, inevitably with a project of this size, some work will need to be carried out on roads in the area. This comes in the shape of having to excavate pavements and lay the fibre optics. Some of you may have already noticed that this work has begun. The Leeds’ build programme is currently underway in parts of Beeston, Hunslet, Middleton Park, Holbeck and Belle Isle, as well as areas of West Leeds. O’Connor Utilities Ltd is carrying out the construction on CityFibre’s behalf. In collaboration with Leeds City Council, every precaution we can take to limit the impact of our work is being taken as we are aware these projects can sometimes disrupt the day-to-day lives of local communities. While building work on a street or area can take some weeks, the good news is that we will only be outside your home for a handful of days. And, you’ll always be able to access your property, just talk to one of our site supervisors dressed in orange. Failing that, please feel free to call us on: 0203 5100 602. Keeping you in the loop We are doing everything we can to communicate with people in the area to give them as much information possible. Before the first ground is broken, we will be sending our teams to knock on doors and speak to residents about the upcoming work. If they are not there, then information will be left in their letterbox and we happily encourage people to get in touch if they have any further queries. In the short term we are hoping residents will stick with us as we deliver a future proofed network. If you would like to learn more about our Gigabit Cities and how you might be affected, please visit: cityfibre.com/gigabit-cities. Sounds great, sign me up We will continue to keep you posted on our progress, but if this all sounds appealing to you, then you can speak to our partners at Vodafone today. Vodafone will be using CityFibre’s network to bring Vodafone Gigafast Broadband to customers in Leeds and you can pre-register for the service from today at www.vodafone.co.uk/gigafast/register We aim for first homes to be connected to Gigafast Broadband in early 2020.

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With network projects in over 60 cities and construction underway to reach up to 8 million homes