Around 90,000 homes in North Lanarkshire are set to benefit from gigabit capable internet speeds after a deal struck by a Scottish connectivity firm and a fibre broadband wholesaler.
Motherwell, Coatbridge, Bellshill and Airdrie are among the areas to benefit from a partnership between Edinburgh-headquartered Commsworld and Tewkesbury-based Netomnia.
It will see 5km of new ‘fibre to the home (FTTH) built a week, and over 130km in total in a move which sees Commsworld and Netomnia invest up to £62m, delivering up to 1Gps speeds.
Under the agreement, Commsworld is installing its own full-fibre connectivity to council buildings, sites and schools and Netomnia will use ‘physical infrastructure access (PIA) to share duct and pole infrastructure. The “build once” approach aims to minimise the disruption that builds of this kind can bring to roads and streets in the region.
Through its nationwide ultra-fast optical core network, and as the ‘first network operator’ to be on every one of the UK’s eight internet exchanges, Commsworld aims to deliver transformative connectivity to areas the length and breadth of Britain by connecting them to speeds of up to 10G now, and with scalability of up to 100G, as well as building capacity for the future.
Netomnia is meanwhile to delivering a multi-gigabit broadband network across the UK. It has a target of achieving more than a million premises passed by 2023, and has already brought FTTH benefits to areas in Scotland including Falkirk, with broadband infrastructure delivered to around 70,000 premises to the town and the surrounding areas.
Bruce Strang, Commsworld chief operating officer, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Netomnia, a company which like us is fully committed to the rapid roll-out of high capacity, resilient, and future-proofed pure fibre connectivity to towns, cities and regions throughout the UK.
“Together we have begun delivering our commitment to North Lanarkshire to provide better broadband connections to the local authority area, through its schools, offices and businesses. Also we will provide North Lanarkshire’s community organisations and residents with all of the socially inclusive benefits that more resilient, ultra-fast connectivity can bring.
“These new connections, which due to be completed by the end of 2023, are the beginning of what we believe Commsworld and Netomnia can achieve in the future.”
Jeremy Chelot, CEO at Netomnia, said: “Full-fibre broadband is vital to everyday lives, providing much faster speeds than legacy copper networks and allowing residents and businesses to do everything they need online with ease. Our partnership with Commsworld is another exciting step forward in accelerating the UK’s transition to full fibre.
“We look forward to our initial phase in North Lanarkshire which hopefully is just the beginning of our partnership as we aim to close the digital divide.”