CITYFIBRE’S FULL FIBRE NETWORK BUILD IN SHEFFIELD COULD STRETCH LENGTH OF RIVER DON FIVE TIMES OVER

CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, has now laid a staggering 500km of full fibre internet beneath the streets of Sheffield as part of its £115m plan to future-proof the city’s digital connectivity. This landmark achievement means there is enough full fibre cabling connecting the city’s homes to cover the length of River Don five times over.

CityFibre's £115m full fibre network build in Sheffield started in February 2021, supported by build partner, O’Connor Utilities Ltd. Work is currently ongoing in the Birley, Beighton, and Firth Park areas, while work has been completed across large sections of the city including Burngreave, Handsworth, Manor, Woodhouse and Richmond, with more to follow shortly.

 Natalie Ward, CityFibre’s Area Manager Sheffield said: “The fact that we have laid 500km of full fibre cable in just 20 months shows how dedicated we are to bringing world-class digital infrastructure to the people and businesses of Sheffield.

“Thanks to the support of our build partner, the speed of deployment has been significant, and many residents across the city are already able to connect to the fastest and most reliable broadband services available. Our full fibre network will benefit Sheffield’s communities for decades to come.”

Councillor Denise Fox, Birley Ward, said: “It’s great to see that Sheffield has been chosen to receive the upgraded network that has been much needed. During the lockdown, when many were working from home and children were doing their lessons, they experienced bad connections and freezing.

“This new state of the art fibre being installed promises a better connection and a better service to your door. I do hope that people will explore the opportunities that this brings to Sheffield.”

 Sheffield is one of a growing number of locations in the UK to benefit from CityFibre’s nationwide full fibre rollout, which will bring new and improved broadband infrastructure within reach of up to eight million UK homes and businesses.   

As work is completed in each neighbourhood, CityFibre will designate the homes ‘ready for service’, which means residents can choose to connect to full fibre-enabled broadband services when they go live in their area.

In Sheffield services are currently available from Vodafone, Giganet, IDNet, Yayzi, Octaplus and Trunk Pure Broadband. Other providers such as TalkTalk are expected to join the network soon.

People interested in giving their home broadband a boost can find out more about the build, pre-register their interest and ensure they are updated on service availability here.