How CityFibre is putting Northampton ahead of the curve
CityFibre are investing over £40million in Northampton to roll out full fibre, and are just starting the next phase in Kettering and Wellingborough.
We spoke to James Cushing, CityFibre’s City Manager for Northampton, to find out how and why.
James Cushing (centre) with colleagues Hannah Carter (left) and Matt Ginnings (right)
What is CityFibre doing in Northamptonshire?
At CityFibre, we're rolling out full fibre broadband which is the next generation of connectivity powering broadband, 5G, and mobile communications for decades to come.
We started work in Northampton back in 2019, alongside a range of internet service providers such as our launch partner Vodafone, TalkTalk and Zen, and we're just starting work in Kettering and Wellingborough.
We're a wholesaler - we build the network our partners offer services to residents. We've also got a business network, so we work with companies like DBFB and ACS in Northampton. They're selling business products over our network and other networks.
What's so good about full fibre?
The average speed in Northampton is around 70 megabits for downloads and about 10 megabits for uploads, but that will vary massively.
Where we differ from the existing other providers is that they use fibre optic to only part of the way to the premise. The last bit into your home will use an old copper connection, which ultimately limits the speeds available.
CityFibre builds fibre optic cables all the way from the national broadband interconnects into the local exchanges, then out from those green cabinets and into your home, so you're not losing speed in your connection.
That's why our partners can offer symmetric speeds of over 900 megabit download and 900 megabit upload.
It’s also scaleable. Copper technology has been pushed to its limits. With fibre we're already trialling 10 gigabit speeds over the network. Some of the research and development going on in universities around the world is testing terabits of information. It's the next generation of connectivity that's going to be a step change now but also upgradeable as we move forward.
You can run massive speeds using full fibre, like 4K TVs and streaming services. And not just speeds but bandwidths, which is increasingly important with factors like the number of people working from home and ever increasing number of connected devices.
Plus it’s reliable. Fibre is inherently more robust than the old copper networks, meaning you can run more devices and processes at the same time and you can get huge upload and download speeds. And as cloud-based systems advance, this network will be powering them. Likewise, fibre uses less energy overall than older network and combined with being more reliable means big CO2 savings.
What's the picture like nationally and internationally for full fibre rollout?
When we started in 2019, Northampton had 0.2% full fibre availability. Now it's around 60%. There are other networks that have been building but a lot of that 60% reflects the work we've done.
Northampton started from a low base and has now caught up and overtaken the national average, so other areas will be playing catch-up with Northampton now.
While the UK has made tremendous progress over the past few years, we're still behind a lot of countries. In the Far East, there are countries with over 90% full fibre coverage, and areas of Scandinavia and the Baltic region have over 70%. The UK this month passed 34%. So we've got some catching up to do internationally.
Why Northamptonshire?
CityFibre works in lots of areas throughout the country but we certainly found a real opportunity and desire to make a mark in Northamptonshire, It felt the right time and the right place for us. Since we've started working here, a lot of other investment has come into the county which has been encouraging.
There's been a big increase in the business drivers for what we're doing. Networking has grown massively as well and the councils have recognised there's competition out there and attracting this investment and building this infrastructure is key for longer-term plans to regenerate the economy of Northamptonshire.
We've had support from the leadership of local councils in recognising the need for digital connectivity and what we're trying to achieve. We also have lots of partners in the area that supply us, like HellermannTyton which supplies part of our cabling and is based in the town.
We'll be at Merged Futures explaining the benefits for the county of what we're doing. If you come to speak to us about your organisation you’ll find a very willing partner - we're always looking for opportunities for joint working and what the network can do for you.
Lastly, what would you highlight about Northamptonshire outside of work?
I want to give a shout out to Northamptonshire Walks. It really gathered pace online during the pandemic, it's very locally-focused and it shines a light on the great community spirit and pride in the county, showing the beauty of the towns and countryside in Northamptonshire.