Local recruits help drive forward CityFibre’s £40m digital transformation in Medway

Nearly every home and business in Medway will gain access to CityFibre’s Full Fibre network by the end of 2023, transforming Medway into one of the world’s best digitally connected regions.

CityFibre is making significant progress on its £40m investment to transform Medway into one of the world’s best digitally connected regions, with construction ramping up in areas including Rainham Central, Rainham South and Watling, and moving into the Hempstead and Wigmore area before the end of the year.

Construction is being delivered by the infrastructure service provider Lanes-i on behalf of CityFibre. The team is using a range of construction methods while working in close partnership with Medway Council and local communities to deliver a fast rollout and minimise potential disruption.

The build project is also supporting jobs in Medway, with local residents making up 65 per cent of the 80-strong Lanes-i team. This includes Sadie Kingswood, Street Works Coordinator at Lanes-i, who joined the firm in January this year.

Sadie is responsible for securing all necessary permissions before construction work can take place. On a day-to-day basis, she manages everything from raising permits to facilitating site meetings and ensuring effective communication with local authorities.

Having lived in the Medway area for the past 12 years, Sadie says that her local knowledge is incredibly helpful in her job and makes working with local stakeholders that much easier.

Speaking of her work, Sadie said: “We’re a close-knit team at Lanes-i. I think everyone is really excited to be part of the effort to future-proof Medway’s digital infrastructure for generations to come, through CityFibre’s investment. As a proud Medway local with strong ties to the community, the work is all the more rewarding.”

Aideen Sadler, CityFibre’s City Manager for Medway, said: “We are immensely proud to support local jobs in Medway, via our trusted build partner Lanes-i, as we work to upgrade the area’s legacy networks with gigabit-capable full fibre connectivity.

“Our £40m investment in Medway will continue to support jobs as local businesses and residents gain access to state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, helping boost productivity and innovation.”

Medway is one of a growing number of locations in the UK to benefit from CityFibre’s £4bn Gigabit City investment programme which will bring new and better broadband infrastructure within reach of up to eight million homes and businesses nationwide.

Speaking of the project, Cllr Alan Jarrett, Leader of Medway Council, said: “I’m pleased that CityFibre’s investment in Medway is providing world-class digital infrastructure, as well as jobs for local residents. The full fibre network will support economic growth; helping our local businesses thrive, as well as providing huge benefits to residents in terms of their connectivity and access to digital services. I look forward to watching the works progress.”

CityFibre launched its build project in Medway in January this year, as part of the company’s plans to replace the nation’s outdated copper-based networks with gigabit-capable full fibre connectivity.

Unlike copper-based ‘fibre broadband’ services available today, full fibre networks use 100% fibre optic cables to carry data at lightning speed all the way from the home to the point of connection. This gives users consistently faster speeds for upload and download (up to 1,000 Mbps), near limitless bandwidth so everyone at home can work, study, stream or game simultaneously, while providing connectivity users can depend on.

As work is completed in each neighbourhood, internet service providers (ISPs) will ‘light up the network’ with some of the fastest and most competitive broadband packages available in terms of both data and price.

In Medway, services will be available from an increasing range of broadband providers including Vfast, the Kent based internet service provider. 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 and other providers are expected to join the network soon.

Residents interested in giving their home broadband a boost can find out more about the build, pre-register their interest and find out when new ISPs join at www.cityfibre.com/your-street.