SPONSOR ADDRESS
The road to full fibre
In the complex market
Andrew Wilson, Head of Wholesale at CityFibre, walks us through the ripe opportunities on the road to full fi bre,
and why its regional partners are the key to a successful transition
landscape of 2020, the
main lesson to be drawn
is that connectivity plays
an absolutely vital role in
underpinning the performance
of businesses in the UK. at’s
why the road to full bre should
also be seen as the road to
recovery, and indeed the road to
success for our economy.
It is hugely encouraging
that the UK Government
understands the signi cance
of full bre roll out and
remains committed to working
with infrastructure builders
to achieve its ambition of
widespread coverage by 2025.
When you analyse the
numbers behind the economic
value that full bre brings, it is
easy to see why the stakes are so
high. Research undertaken for
CityFibre by specialist economic
development and regeneration
consultancy, Regeneris, suggests
that full bre roll out across 100
UK towns and cities will bring
a positive economic impact
of £43 billion. is includes
£2.21 billion in business
productivity and £1.9 billion
in worker exibility, both of
which are crucial in the wake of
COVID-19.
at is why it is imperative
that the UK invests in full
bre today and why CityFibre,
as the country’s third digital
infrastructure platform, is
rmly committed to a £4
billion roll out programme to
deliver full bre to up to eight
million premises, which will
be substantially completed by
2025.
Picking up the pace
To meet the ambition of
delivering full bre across the
UK within the next ve years,
the industry needs to scale up
at pace. CityFibre has increased
its headcount signi cantly
in 2020 and earlier this year
we announced a three-year
recruitment and training
programme to provide up to
10,000 people with jobs across
our network construction
partners. We are investing on
this scale to ensure we deliver
the maximum opportunity and
best quality of service for our
partners as quickly as possible.
Growth on this scale brings
with it a wealth of opportunity
for the channel and CityFibre is
supporting wholesale partners
to deliver innovative, reliable,
and gigabit-capable full bre
connectivity to businesses across
the UK. We expect the number
of new towns and cities that we
serve to grow signi cantly in
the remaining part of 2020 and
into 2021.
But it’s about more than just
selling connectivity services
for us. CityFibre connects
not just businesses, but whole
communities in a shared vision,
with regional partners who
act as local heroes and true
champions for positive change.
We are their closest ally,
supporting them at every stage
in delivering full bre to their
chosen markets.
Expand your own network
footprint
In 2020, we are supporting
partners in nding new ways
to take our full bre o ering to
market. is collaborative and
proactive approach has seen
our partners come out of the
slump felt by almost every sector
during the last few months with
real impetus and momentum.
Current sales levels are almost
on a par with pre-lockdown
numbers, which is a phenomenal
achievement.
Wherever you sit in the
wholesale ecosystem, CityFibre
supports you and enables your
delivery of full bre connectivity.
Whether that’s to a speci c city,
a region or nationally, we enable
you to break free of the constraints
of traditional incumbents and
access a new, gigabit-capable,
future-proofed infrastructure
to expand your own network
footprint cost-e ectively.
The journey ahead
We are fortunate to be part of
a vibrant and pivotal sector for
the UK and on the road to full
bre we’re rmly in the fast
lane. We are keen to take our
wholesale partners with us on
what promises to be an exciting
journey over the next few years.
We hope you will take
tremendous value from this
special publication and, whatever
your next steps are on the road
to full bre, CityFibre is ready
to o er you all the support you
need.
4 | Road to Full Fibre 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
/www.commsbusiness.co.uk
/
