Press Release | 22 Mar 2018

Peterborough set to unlock gigabit broadband potential with full fibre roll-out

Vodafone UK and CityFibre are bringing gigabit speed broadband to Peterborough’s 200,000 residents and businesses in the latest phase of their full fibre plan.

Vodafone Gigafast Broadband is coming to Peterborough

L-R: Guilhem Poussot (Vodafone); Andy Starnes (CityFibre); Cllr John Holdich (Leader of Peterborough Council); James Palmer (Mayor of Cambridge and Peterborough); and Rob Hamlin (CityFibre)
L-R: Guilhem Poussot (Vodafone); Andy Starnes (CityFibre); Cllr John Holdich (Leader of Peterborough Council); James Palmer (Mayor of Cambridge and Peterborough); and Rob Hamlin (CityFibre)

Vodafone UK and CityFibre are bringing gigabit speed broadband to Peterborough’s 200,000 residents in the latest phase of their full fibre plan.

Vodafone Gigafast Broadband will offer customers ultrafast and reliable full fibre broadband at every stage of the connection from their home or workplace to the Internet. Unlike 97 per cent of today’s broadband services in the UK, Vodafone Gigafast Broadband doesn’t rely on old fashioned copper telephone lines. It is based solely on fibre-optic cables to give users a vastly superior online experience capable of Gigabit speeds (1,000 Mbps).

At these speeds, gamers will be able to download a 5 gigabyte virtual reality game in 1.7 minutes, not 34 minutes, and film fans will be able to download the latest 60 gigabyte Ultra-HD blockbuster in 8.5 minutes, instead of 6 hours. It will put an end to annoying buffering when accessing the Internet or downloading videos. Businesses that rely on a fast internet connection will also benefit from these vastly improved speeds.

CityFibre will invest at least £30 million to extend its existing core fibre network throughout Peterborough to nearly every home and business in the city, with work starting from May this year. Vodafone will use this to bring Vodafone Gigafast Broadband to customers by early 2019. Residents and businesses in Peterborough can pre-register for the service today at www.vodafone.co.uk/broadband.

Vodafone UK Chief Executive Nick Jeffery said: “We want to reinvent the home broadband experience. We were the first broadband provider to abolish line rental, we now guarantee line speeds, and from next year, we will offer customers in Peterborough Vodafone Gigafast Broadband. It will revolutionise the way people live and work, from better home entertainment, to remote healthcare monitoring and improved student access to core educational services. I am delighted that Peterborough is poised to become a UK digital leader.”

According to figures from industry body Fibre to the Home Council, this major private sector investment will unlock huge economic growth in the city that could exceed £700 million* in Gross Value Added (GVA) over the next 15 years. Peterborough is already making full use of the fibre network built by CityFibre for the City Council in 2013. Most schools, council offices and the main hospital currently benefit from full fibre access, and most recently, high-definition CCTV and traffic management cameras were added to the network. This partnership between Vodafone and CityFibre will now bring the benefits of full fibre to nearly every home and business in Peterborough too.

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About Vodafone UK

Vodafone UK is a technology communications company that connects people, businesses and devices to help our customers benefit from digital innovation. Our services span mobile, fixed-line connections, home and office broadband, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

We have a strong track record as a tech pioneer, making the UK’s first mobile phone call, sending the first text message, and making the UK’s first live holographic call using 5G in 2018. We were the first to start carrying live 5G traffic from a site in Salford, Greater Manchester and now have 5G in locations across Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain as well as the UK. Meanwhile, our 4G network coverage currently reaches over 99% of the UK population.

Today, Vodafone serves more than 18 million mobile and fixed-line customers in the UK. Vodafone is the largest provider of full fibre in the UK – our superfast broadband services are now available to nearly 12 million homes across the UK.

Sustainability is also at the heart of what we do: as of 1 July 2021, 100% of the grid electricity we use in the UK is certified to be from renewable sources.

For more information about Vodafone UK, please visit: www.vodafone.co.uk.

Vodafone UK Media Relations

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