Vodafone : Milton Keynes first city to get Gigabit-speed fibre broadband

CityFibre to invest at least £40 million in future-proof full fibre infrastructure for the city

Seated (left to right): Greg Mesch, Chief Executive at CityFibre; Cllr Peter Marland, Leader at Milton Keynes Council; Nick Jeffery, Vodafone UK Chief Executive. Standing (left to right): Cllr David Hopkins, Mayor of Milton Keynes; Cllr Jenni Ferrans, Milton Keynes Council; Carole Mills, Chief Executive, Milton Keynes Council.

Milton Keynes is set to become a leading hi-tech city, with news that it is the first community to benefit from Gigabit-capable full fibre broadband under the new Vodafone and CityFibre Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) programme. The project will see a private investment from CityFibre of at least £40 million into a state-of-the-art digital infrastructure for Milton Keynes.

Today's news follows the announcement two months ago of a strategic partnership between Vodafone and CityFibre. Milton Keynes is the first location to be announced as part of this partnership, which will involve FTTP being made available in approximately 12 cities and reaching one million homes and business across the UK.

By using fibre-optic cables for every stage of the connection from the customer's home to the Internet, Vodafone will be able to provide residents of Milton Keynes with extremely fast and reliable broadband services capable of Gigabit speeds (1,000 mbps). At that speed, hospitals will be able to download a 2 gigabyte CT scan in just 17 seconds instead of 11 minutes over a standard broadband connection and film fans will be able to download the latest 25 gigabyte Ultra-HD blockbuster in 8.5 minutes instead of 6 hours.

With population and employment growth and high levels of productivity, Milton Keynes has been identified by the Centre for Cities as one of five Fast Growth Cities in the UK, with significant potential for the future. Vodafone and CityFibre are committed to helping the city, which celebrated its 50^th anniversary last year, to meet this potential through the provision of a future-proofed digital network on a par with the best connected cities in the world.

CityFibre will start construction of the new FTTP network in Milton Keynes in March this year. This will be an extension of its existing 160km full fibre network in the city. CityFibre will use modern build techniques to deploy the network quickly and minimise disruption. Once completed, nearly every business and home in Milton Keynes will have FTTP access.

Customers in Milton Keynes will be able to pre-register for the service from today from this link, with the first live services expected towards the end of 2018.

Milton Keynes was chosen as the first city because of the city's strong tech sector, the council's forward-looking commitment to 'smart city' initiatives, and the strength of its support for the project. The extent of CityFibre's existing fibre network in the city and the absence of any alternative digital infrastructure, helped make Milton Keynes a prime candidate for selection.

Cllr Peter Marland, Leader at Milton Keynes Council, said: 'We are delighted that Milton Keynes has been selected as the first city in this full fibre roll-out by Vodafone and CityFibre. As a modern city that prides itself on its smart city ambitions and projects, we are perfectly positioned to make the most of this major private investment in our digital infrastructure. We know that the city will get behind this project to ensure that every home and business unlocks their digital potential.'

Vodafone UK Chief Executive Nick Jeffery commented: 'Milton Keynes is fast becoming a UK leader for productivity and growth, with its economic prospects only likely to improve following the opening of the East West Rail project. We believe that residents deserve a digital communications service to match their ambitions. This is why we are providing gigabit-capable connections to transform the way we live and work.'

Greg Mesch, Chief Executive at CityFibre added: 'The partnership between Vodafone and CityFibre aims to tackle the huge problem the UK faces in terms of digital inadequacy and will help fulfil our vision of a Gigabit Britain. We are at the early stages of creating the Gigabit fibre network that the UK needs and deserves, and with the announcement of Milton Keynes as our first project we are well on our way to making this vision a reality. Full speed ahead.'

Advanced fibre networks are also critical for mobile networks, providing the very high-capacity backhaul connections required for new Internet of Things products such as smart home sensors, as well as future 5G mobile services from the early 2020s.

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Notes to Editors

• FTTP is currently only available to around 3 per cent of premises across the UK. It is recognised as the 'gold standard' in connectivity for its speed, near unlimited bandwidth and reliability.
• The partnership between CityFibre and Vodafone was announced in November 2017. Under the agreement, Vodafone will market the ultrafast full-fibre services delivered over the networks, which will be built, operated and owned by CityFibre.
• Milton Keynes became a Gigabit City in 2016 with the existing network currently around 160km in size. Local businesses have been the first to reap the benefits of the ultrafast connection, experiencing a new level of productivity and innovation, and giving them a digital head-start over their competitors.
• Customers in Milton Keynes will be able to pre-register for the service from today at this link, with the first live services expected towards the end of 2018.

To find out more about CityFibre and Fibre to the Home, visit: www.cityfibre.com/residential.

About Vodafone UK

Vodafone is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies and provides a range of services including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone has mobile operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 48 more, and has fixed broadband operations in 19 markets. As of 30 September 2017, Vodafone Group had 522.8 million mobile customers and 18.8 million fixed broadband customers, including India and all of the customers in Vodafone's joint ventures and associates. For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com

Vodafone UK partners with businesses of all sizes - from start-ups and small businesses to the largest corporates and the public sector. The company has worked with UK businesses for over 30 years, starting out as a mobile provider and becoming one of the UK's leading total communications partners. It provides a range of voice and data services, secure communications infrastructure, fixed and call centre capability, and unified communications, and was the first mobile phone operator to offer a truly converged service for fixed and mobile.

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