• Swindon & Wiltshire News
• Wednesday September 28 2022
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Full-fibre broadband comes to Devizes and Marlborough

Full-fibre broadband is to be rolled out to more than 20,000 homes in Devizes and Marlborough thanks to a £23 million investment by Giganet, one of the country’s fastest-growing internet service providers.

Giganet’s build plans have been backed by £250 million of private investment, £23 million of which has been earmarked specifically for Wiltshire – an area that is yet to benefit from the ongoing race to bring full-fibre to all corners of the country.

MCS Utilities are the build partner and will be undertaking the network installation in both areas. The overall project is expected to reach completion in early 2024 but the first services will go live much sooner.

Kevin Barry, chief network build officer at Giganet, said: “This is an exciting chapter for Giganet as we bring Wiltshire’s smaller communities up to speed with full-fibre services.

“Over the last few years, there’s been a surge in demand for faster, more reliable broadband.”

The company said it was working with town councils in both towns to minimise disruption to local communities, as the laying of the fibre-optic network requires roadworks.

Full fibre networks use 100 per cent fibre optic cables to carry data all the way from the exchange to the home, which differs from most digital infrastructure today. Currently, only about a third of UK premises can currently connect to it.