CityFibre is building a new full fibre broadband network in Leeds.
You might never have heard of CityFibre, but they’ve been working non-stop through the pandemic to lay a full fibre broadband network that will bring gigabit speeds to over 250,000 homes and businesses across Leeds. It’s a massive undertaking, but they’re making great progress – in fact, you can already get access to the network in some areas of South and West Leeds, with more homes being added every day.
This is a game-changer for Leeds because full fibre is the fastest and most reliable broadband available – and CityFibre is one of the only companies doing it here. In fact, even if you think you have full fibre, you probably don’t because while lots of providers use fibre-optic cables, they don’t always replace the ones that run from your street to your house, which means you’re still using copper cables.
With CityFibre, even the cable from the street to your home is fibre, so when you ask for a gigabit connection, you get a gigabit connection. And it’s not just speed. Full fibre broadband is up to five times more reliable than alternatives and it’s less likely to slow down when lots of people use it at the same time, which is great news for families and all of us working from home.
After all, we’re using the internet more and more every year. In the UK, we’re now online for an average of 21.5 hours per week. From sending emails to online shopping and internet banking, it’s become an essential part of our lives – and we’re always finding new ways to use it. With the latest technology, you can control your heating, turn on your dishwasher or even do a load of washing, all through an app.
Most of us think of broadband in terms of download speeds. With a gigabyte connection, you can download a high definition film in under a minute and get the latest video games, which can be over 100 gigabytes in size, in just 10 minutes. That’s fast. But what’s interesting here, is that with CityFibre, the upload speeds are just as fast. You can upload pictures, videos and files in the blink of eye, making the most of cloud solutions like Dropbox.
The full fibre infrastructure they’re laying in the ground now will last for generations and help to power the city’s growth. They’re future-proofing the city’s connectivity, which means the cables they lay today will open up a world of opportunities in the future. It’s great for Leeds and it will give us the fast, reliable connection needed to harness new technology and become a smart city.
CityFibre is already building its full fibre network in Leeds. Construction work has begun in Beeston, Middleton Park, Holbeck, Pudsey, Bramley, Stanningley and Hunslet, with many homes now able to access the CityFibre network, and they will soon be expanding out into other areas of the city.
So how do you get it? CityFibre is an open-provider, so they don’t sell directly to the public. Instead, they make their network available to popular ISP providers like Vodafone. They have, however, made it easy for you to check if your home is already connected to their network. Their postcode checker will tell you if it’s available, if it’s being installed or if it’s in the pipeline. And if it’s not available yet, you can register your interest to find out when it will be.
