Major milestone for Derby’s £45m full fibre broadband project

A £45 million project to install full fibre broadband across Derby has reached a major milestone, with work in the first areas being completed.

CityFibre, which is delivering the project, has said that more than 8,000 broadband users in parts of Derby can now benefit from the fastest, most reliable capacity internet services available in the UK.

It has completed network rollouts in parts of Mackworth, Allestree, Mickleover, Littleover, Abbey, Arboretum and Darley, which means businesses and residents can now order services for installation.

Once the entire build has been completed in 2025, CityFibre says that almost every home and business will have access to full fibre broadband.

Dominika Walker, CityFibre’s city manager for Derby, said: “It’s a year on since we first started digging in Derby and it’s great to be able to celebrate this milestone by offering members of the community all the benefits full fibre connectivity brings.”

The full fibre broadband project aims to future-proof Derby by ensuring its digital infrastructure is able to support the growing data consumption of residents, businesses and services in an increasingly digital world.

Full fibre is currently available to less than 20% of UK premises, making residents in parts of Derby some of the first in the country to benefit from the best available digital communications technology in their homes.

Full fibre networks use 100% fibre optic cables to carry data at light speed all the way from the home to the point of connection.

This gives users speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps for upload and download, near limitless bandwidth so everyone at home can work, study, stream or game simultaneously, and provides reliable connectivity.

It is hoped that having full fibre across Derby will drive a range of economic benefits, increasing productivity and innovation.

Where CityFibre builds its full fibre networks, ISPs (internet service providers) ‘light them up’.

In Derby, full fibre broadband services are now being offered by TalkTalk, Giganet and Air Broadband, with an increasing range of broadband providers expected to join the network soon.

In the city, McCann Construction is delivering the build programme on CityFibre’s behalf with a workforce that has been recruited locally.

Dominika said: “We would like to thank residents across Derby who have been extremely patient with us as we have built our infrastructure and look forward to giving more people in the area the opportunity to connect to our network.”