CityFibre gets to work on £50m digital transformation project in Maidstone

Work to bring full fibre connectivity within reach of almost every home and business in Maidstone gets underway as CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, breaks ground on a new infrastructure rollout that will future-proof the town’s digital needs for generations to come.

Construction of the £50m town-wide full fibre network has begun in Maidstone and is being delivered by Lanes-i on behalf of CityFibre. The team will use a range of construction methods while working in close partnership with Kent County Council and local communities to deliver a fast rollout while managing potential disruption.

Each area will usually take a few weeks to complete, however, construction teams will typically only be outside each home for two to three days and CityFibre will be in touch by post ahead of any work starting.

The overall project is expected to reach completion by 2027 but the first services will go live for people to take advantage of much sooner. As the network is completed in each neighbourhood, CityFibre will designate the homes ‘ready for service’, which means residents can choose to connect to full fibre-enabled broadband services when they go live in their area.

In Maidstone, services will be available from a range of broadband providers. Across the UK, CityFibre is already working with launch partner Vodafone to supply full fibre infrastructure for customers on selected Vodafone Pro Broadband plans, while TalkTalk, Giganet, IDNet, Zen and other providers are offering services in many parts of the country.

Speaking of the project, Anne Krausse, CityFibre’s Area Manager for Maidstone, said: “I’m incredibly proud to see our team start work on Maidstone’s full fibre network today. As we roll out our infrastructure across the town, it’s important to remember that any short-term disruption will pay off tremendously in the long-term. Our network will help ensure that Maidstone is ready to thrive in the digital age by giving almost every home and business in the town access to the best available digital connectivity.”

Full fibre networks, unlike many of the copper-based ‘fibre broadband’ services available today, use 100% full fibre to carry data at light speed all the way from the home to the point of connection. This gives users speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps for upload and download, near limitless bandwidth and connectivity users can depend on.

A full fibre connection also goes far beyond simply enabling access to the latest entertainment at lightning speed. As an essential digital utility, full fibre boosts households and businesses alike, with experts saying it will drive a range of economic benefits, such as making us more productive and innovative.

CT Bureau