Commsworld to provide ‘ultra-fast’ connectivity to Edinburgh’s £1bn St James Quarter 

Telecommunications company Commsworld will provide ‘ultra-fast’ network connectivity to Edinburgh’s £1bn St James Quarter.

The company has won the contract to install, manage and maintain the fibre-optic and traditional copper cabling throughout the retail and leisure development as well as to two main communications rooms.

The Edinburgh-headquarted firm will install its high-capacity network infrastructure to the quarter, which comprises of 850,000 square feet of retail space.

The partnership will provide each of St James Quarter’s tenants throughout its retail units, restaurants, and numerous public spaces, with the opportunity to connect to Commsworld’s ultra-fast optical core network, the ‘largest independently-owned dense wavelength division multiplexing network in Britain’.

Bruce Strang, chief operating officer of Commsworld, said: “We are very excited to have been chosen to provide the digital connectivity for St James Quarter. The Galleria signifies a huge step forward for retail in the capital, and we aim to provide the fast, reliable and resilient network connectivity that it deserves.

“Commsworld has the ability to manage all services in-house, and we have a responsive and dedicated team that can provide each and every tenant with the infrastructure they need – from internet and WAN access to business telephones and other services.”

St James Quarter covers 1.7 million square feet in total and is expected to turn the city’s East End into a retail and tourist hotspot, in turn providing a welcome boost to Princes Street, George Street and the Royal Mile following the Covid-19 pandemic. It is due to open in phases, and be fully up and running by the end of 2022.