CityFibre introduces Penny Mordaunt MP to Full Fibre in Portsmouth

With construction of its new Full Fibre network for Portsmouth now well underway, CityFibre, welcomed Penny Mordaunt, MP for Portsmouth North and Paymaster General for a tour of the work in progress, giving her a closer look at the £32m project.

During the visit, Ms Mordaunt was introduced to full-fibre digital infrastructure by local City Manager Jonathan Russell, with demonstrations of the typical build process, including excavation and reinstatement.

The project forms part of CityFibre’s up to £4 billion Gigabit City Investment Programme which will bring full-fibre networks within reach of up to 8 million homes and businesses across the UK.

Ms Mordaunt saw how work was progressing in the Copnor area and was accompanied by city councillor Daniel Wemyss,

Commenting on the CityFibre’s project, Ms Mordaunt said:

“Investments such as CityFibre’s promise to build Portsmouth’s smart city status and help us to “build back better”.

“I’m delighted to see this important work, rolling out future-proof connections to constituents and businesses, first-hand. The last 18 months has driven home the crucial role this digital infrastructure plays in underpinning our lives and the economy and this ambitious project from CityFibre is critical in aiding our recovery from the pandemic."

The network build, which kicked off, in early 2020 now reaches 1,000s of homes in the City through internet service providers including local companies Giganet and Digital Homes. On completion, it will be in reach of nearly every home and business and will also provide a platform for a new generation of “smart city” applications and underpin the roll-out of 5G mobile services.

Unlike most of the digital infrastructure accessible to households today, City Fibre’s network uses 100% fibre optic cables to carry data at light speed all the way from the home to the point of connection. This gives users consistently faster speeds for upload and download (up to 1,000 Mbps), - up to 40 times faster than “superfast” broadband and near limitless bandwidth and connectivity users can depend on. 

Speaking of the tour, Jonathan Russell CityFibre’s City Manager for Portsmouth, said: “We’re making great progress across Portsmouth, with close collaboration of the City Council, and our local build partner CCN Communications Ltd . Of course, any local activity in our streets can be challenging, but short-term disruption will be rewarded by serving the City’s communication connectivity needs for decades to come.”

Residents interested in giving their home broadband a boost can find out more about the build and pre-register their interest at cityfibre.com/residential