A £75m to transform Bradford into what it is claimed will be one of the best digitally connected areas on the planet is set to get underway in the next few months, giving businesses access to the UK’s fastest broadband services.
By Damian Holmes
The project could lead to up to £40m worth of start-up growth for the district, as well as helping to unlock more than £30m in terms of productivity and innovation for existing firms.
It is part of CityFibre’s ongoing roll-out of ‘Gigabit City’ £2.5 billion nationwide investment scheme to transform internet access to millions of businesses and homes.
The work will see the company set up a full fibre network throughout Bradford, which will provide “lightning fast digital connections to everyone and everything”.
And for businesses, it will have a potentially transformative effect, helping attract new investment and having a huge impact on productivity and innovation for existing companies.
Kim Johnston, City Manager for CityFibre, said: “Research from economic consultancy Regeneris, which quantified the impact of full fibre over a 15 year period, has shown that start-up growth in Bradford could be boosted to the value of £40m.
“Access to gigabit-speed full fibre connectivity could unlock £32m in business productivity and innovation. With Full Fibre, companies will be able to develop and promote products and services online and benefit from greater exposure to the international marketplace.”
She said Full Fibre is around 20 times faster than the UK’s average business connections.
“As businesses in Bradford scale, or technology evolves, they won’t have to worry about strains on bandwidth. This is instrumental for productivity,” she added.
“Recently, research from the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) also found that areas with good connectivity (500 Mbits/s) had lower long term unemployment, better productivity, and were more attractive to companies looking to relocate.
“The research also found that good connectivity boosts the entrepreneurialism of a region, enabling more micro-businesses to develop a strong web presence and find otherwise inaccessible customers online.”
Work on the project is set to start in the district in Spring, with CityFibre currently designing a network which will help replace legacy copper networks with gigabit-capable full fibre optic connectivity.
Detailed planning is underway and on completion, the network will be in reach of nearly every home and business in the area, providing a platform for a new generation of “smart city” applications and the roll-out of 5G mobile services.
Salford-based Network Plus is constructing the network on behalf of CityFibre. The company is using modern build techniques to deploy the network quickly and residents will be kept informed by mailings ahead of works commencing in their streets.
The leader for business and growth on Bradford Council is in no doubt that the project will bring jobs and new business into the district.
Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “Digital connectivity is an important driver of new high-quality jobs and investment so we are delighted CityFibre, which will make Bradford one of the best digitally connected areas in the UK, is proceeding at pace.
“Bradford district is already home to many high-tech industries and world-leading infrastructure like this will boost local productivity and make our area even more attractive to investors and entrepreneurs.”
And the council’s chief executive Kersten England has no doubts it will help bring more business into the region.
She said: “I am delighted that Bradford district has been selected as one of a growing number of places across the country to receive CityFibre’s investment to improve digital connectivity. Jobs will be created to construct this new network at a time when job creation has never been more essential, as we look to recover from the effects of COVID-19.
“Even more important is the transformational impact that this will have on our local business community. Gigabit capable full fibre broadband will also make us more likely to attract new business and commerce into our area. Bradford has long been recognised as a leading destination to start a business.
“Finally, it will be transformative for our district’s residents, supporting our young population to learn, innovate, create and communicate.”
Kim Johnston says the vastly improved networks will be a huge boon as business emerges from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, with more homeworkers and virtual meetings.
“From being able to connect to your organisation’s servers, to taking part in video conferences with colleagues, a good internet connection is not just a nice to have for homeworkers – it’s a necessity,” she said. “Modern working is data intensive and for too many workers their home broadband just isn’t fast or reliable enough to make working from home as seamless as it should be.”
““Much of the legacy networks in the UK use connections that include some copper wiring for the final stretch to your home or business, which is a major factor in lagging and dropped connections.
“Full fibre is different. There’s no copper wire involved at any stage. Instead, fibre connections are used for the entire length of the journey, straight into your home or business. That allows for Gigabit capable ‘lightning speed’ services and superior reliability.”
Network Plus say the new contract will see that full fibre infrastructure delivered to over 137,000 properties in the Bradford district.
Work being done by their engineers includes a mixture of below ground construction and ducting of fibre cables, as well as installing poles for the aerial fibre network.
Network Plus Joint CEO Dan Holland said: “’This is a major expansion of our telecoms sector and builds on our established reputation for delivering infrastructure projects on time with a great attention to service and safety.
“Recognising the importance of access to fibre networks particularly during COVID-19, we are really pleased to be supporting CityFibre by delivering the benefits of next-generation broadband to Bradford.”
Network Plus Joint CEO Dan Holland
CityFibre says the design for Gigabit cities such as Bradford will include enough fibre capacity to serve bandwidth demands far into the future. The networks, which are designed to be ready for 5G small cell densification, will also provide a platform to realise Smart City ambitions.
