Preston is set to become a gigabit city.

CityFibre might be a company you haven’t heard of before, but they’ve been working throughout the pandemic to lay a full fibre broadband network that will bring gigabit speeds to homes and businesses across the UK, and they’re coming to Preston next. This is a three-year project, with the first live connections expected towards the end of this year.

This is a game-changer for Preston, because full fibre is the fastest and most reliable broadband that exists – 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of providers use the terminology “fibre”, they often use copper cables underground, which means you’re actually using outdated and less reliable technology.

With CityFibre, “full fibre” really is full fibre; 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, there’s no such thing as “peak times” meaning it’s less likely to slow down when lots of people use it at the same time, at any time in the day, which is great news for busy homes with lots of devices trying to use the internet at the same time.

In the UK, we’re now online for an average of 21.5 hours per week. From Teams and Zoom calls to internet banking, home schooling and gaming, it has become an essential part of our lives – and we’re always finding new ways to use it. With the latest technology, you can turn on your dishwasher, control your heating, or even do a load of washing, all through an app, so a good connection is needed to be able to cope with our everyday life requirements.

Some of us think of broadband in terms of download speeds, but what do those speeds mean? With a gigabit connection, you can download a high-definition film in less than a minute, or get a new video game, which can be over 100 gigabytes in size, in just 10 minutes. That’s fast. With CityFibre it’s not just download speeds that are fast, the upload speeds are equally as fast. You can upload photos, files, and videos in the blink of eye.

The full fibre infrastructure being put in the ground now will last for generations and help to power growth. They’re future-proofing Preston, which means the cables they lay today will open up a world of opportunities in the future. It’s brilliant news as it will provide the fast, reliable connection needed to harness new technology to transform Preston into a smart city.

This is a big project to bring full fibre to all corners of Preston, connecting businesses and homes alike. Construction work started in May 2020, with new streets being built every day. The first areas to receive this new network are Fishwick and Frenchwood, the city centre and St Matthews, with further plans to expand the build across Preston.

So how do you get it? CityFibre don’t sell directly to the public, they make their network available to a range of providers like TalkTalk and 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.

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