Work has now begun on the construction of the Peterborough CORE, a pure fibre network designed and built by CityFibre to bring Gigabit internet speeds to Peterborough’s business community.

This major infrastructure project is being undertaken in partnership with Peterborough City Council and its IT Services Provider Serco. The work is set to transform Peterborough into a Gigabit City over the next 12-14 months.

350 Peterborough businesses have already pre-registered to take advantage of the gigabit internet speeds that are 100 times faster than most business connections. At 1,000 megabits per second the new ‘pure-fibre’ infrastructure matches that of cities like Stockholm.

Construction work has now started in Peterborough city centre and will quickly progress across the city with the first services available to businesses by July this year. CityFibre and its construction partner North Midland Construction are working closely with Peterborough City Council Highways Authority to ensure minimum disruption to local businesses and homes during the installation of almost 90km of fibre optic cable route.

CityFibre’s City Development Manager for Peterborough Andy Starnes explains, “When broadband replaced dial-up, it revolutionised global internet usage. Now the old broadband is in need of an upgrade itself. Pure-fibre networks like the Peterborough CORE are modern digital infrastructures delivering accessible and affordable Gigabit speed services. They are a future-proofed technology capable of supporting businesses’ current and future demands. We urge businesses to register their interest on the Peterborough CORE website, to take advantage of this opportunity to increase their productivity and profitability.”

The precise network route is demand-led and there is still time for businesses to register their interest in the Peterborough CORE. Registration is no obligation and allows CityFibre to map demand and connect businesses while construction teams are working in an area. This avoids businesses incurring the additional costs and inconvenience of returning at a later date. The more businesses that register, the more will be in reach of the network.

In addition to providing businesses and the council with state of the art connectivity, the Peterborough CORE network is designed to underpin any eventual roll-out of a city-wide fibre-to-the-premises network.

Councillor Marco Cereste, Leader of Peterborough City Council, is pleased that construction work is progressing. He said: “Peterborough is the fastest growing city in the UK and that means we need the fastest possible internet speed.

“It is good to see that work has started on the project because when it is complete it will help not only the business community but also Peterborough’s, schools, and public services.

“There may be some disruption over the coming months, however it will be worth it as it will set Peterborough on course to be one of the most connected cities in the world.”

Communications Minister Ed Vaizey has also added his support to the Peterborough CORE project saying: “This is tremendous news for Peterborough businesses and provides a significant boost to the Government’s transformation of UK internet speeds already underway. I strongly urge businesses to make the most of this opportunity to ensure they are properly equipped to compete in today’s digital age.”

Case study

One of the first customers to sign up for Peterborough CORE is solicitors, Taylor Rose. Luke Hutchings, Head of Employment at Taylor Rose, is looking forward to utilising the ultra-fast connection. He said: “We are very excited to be the first business to take gigabit services on the Peterborough CORE.  As a fast-growing, innovative firm, with almost 200 employees working online simultaneously, our current connectivity risks holding us back. We have ambitions to provide more and more of our services online and the gigabit service from Businesscoms means we will be able to do more, faster than ever before.  It’s good news for our business and for Peterborough’s wider business community.”

More information on the Gig Up campaign and business pre-registration form can be found at www.peterboroughcore.com