Mobile internet use in Hull grows by 380% following dark fibre roll-out

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 These have been replaced by dedicated dark fibre connections, future-proofing the networks’ capacity capabilities.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.”