Homes and businesses in Edinburgh will be the next in the UK to benefit from gigabit speed full fibre broadband – with work to begin in the city later this year.

Vodafone and CityFibre have identified the next four towns and cities to benefit from a roll-out of Gigabit-capable infrastructure as part of their plans to reach at least one million homes by 2021. Residents and workers in Edinburgh are amongst the next in line to have their online experience transformed. CityFibre will invest at least £100 million of private funds in the city-wide roll-out.

A detailed planning and build programme is underway for the city as part of this first phase of deployment. The new infrastructure will build on Edinburgh’s existing Gigabit City network with homes set to benefit for the first time. Edinburgh’s network already spans 150km, covering the City Centre and Leith to Lasswade, Portobello to Corstorphine, and beyond the City Bypass to Currie. The city-wide network is dramatically accelerating the digital capabilities of businesses, local council, schools, hospitals, libraries and community centres by delivering ultra-fast, high capacity internet connectivity.

By using fibre optic cables for every stage of the connection from the customer’s home or business to the Internet, users will be offered a significantly superior and more reliable broadband service, capable of Gigabit speeds (1,000 Mbps). Vodafone will use CityFibre’s network to bring Vodafone Gigafast Broadband to customers in Edinburgh. Residential and business customers can pre-register for the service from today at www.vodafone.co.uk/broadband/ultrafast.

With the full support of The City of Edinburgh Council, work on installing a new full fibre infrastructure will begin this year. CityFibre will use modern build techniques to deploy the network quickly, while minimising disruption to residents. Once completed, nearly every home and business in the city will have full fibre access.

Vodafone UK Chief Executive, Nick Jeffery, said: “I’m delighted to welcome everyone living in Edinburgh to the full fibre club, with a broadband service like no other.  After five months we are well on track with the joint Gigafast broadband programme that will help position the UK as a world leading digital centre.”

Greg Mesch, Chief Executive at CityFibre, said: “Edinburgh will be among the first cities in the UK to benefit from this game-changing infrastructure programme, which will have a transformative impact on homes and businesses alike. We’re moving closer to our vision of a Gigabit Britain, where digital inadequacy is a thing of the past and full fibre connectivity is the norm. For residents of Edinburgh, the future is now.”

Councillor Kate Campbell, Edinburgh’s Housing and Economy Convener, said: “Edinburgh’s already a well-connected city, but this investment will take it to the next level. Particularly welcome is that households will see a direct benefit for the first time. The additional capability this has already brought to schools, libraries and other community facilities has made a real difference for everyone who uses them. We will work closely with CityFibre to ensure the roll-out is as smooth as possible and residents are kept fully up-to-date with their plans.”

Fergus Ewing, Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity, said: “Access to gigabit broadband speeds will help Scottish cities continue to attract and retain innovative technology companies, while benefiting thousands more Scottish homes. I therefore welcome this further investment from CityFibre, which is fantastic news for Edinburgh, and reaffirms that our approach to R100 is working. It is also a real vote of confidence in the future of Scotland’s digital economy.”