Button pressed on Edinburgh fibre network

A £100 million project to bring high-speed internet access to more homes and businesses in and around Edinburgh has been rolled out.

CityFibre said today that its agreement with infrastructure provider Amey would see it substantially extend its fibre network. Work in residential streets is set to get underway this week in Balerno.

The agreement with Amey is one of CityFibre’s first strategic partnerships with construction companies as it accelerates its plans to reach millions of homes UK-wide.

CityFibre – owned by a consortium of Antin Infrastructure Partners and West Street Infrastructure Partners – recently partnered with Vodafone to bring ultrafast gigabit-capable broadband to up to one million UK homes and businesses by 2021 and is targeting five million by 2025.

Greg Mesch, chief executive at CityFibre, said: “Amey has a formidable reputation in the sector and we are delighted to have them onboard for our flagship ‘Gigabit City’ rollout in Edinburgh.

“This project represents a long, stable, city-wide build that will enable Amey to resource confidently and deliver at pace.”

Andy Milner, chief executive at Amey, said: “We’re looking forward to working with CityFibre on this flagship project in a transparent and collaborative way, to deliver a service that adds value, benefits local residents and in turn helps Edinburgh become a truly intelligently connected city.”

CityFibre’s existing 150-kilometre network in Edinburgh was constructed in less than a year.