Agenda item

Representatives from CityFibre will be in attendance to give a presentation on the company’s business, plans for investment in Middlesbrough and post Covid-19 recovery.

 

Recommendation: Panel to determine whether further information is required.

CityFibre’s City Manager - Tyneside and Wearside, and his team, which included the City Manager - Tees Valley, Area Build Manager, City Build Manager and Regional Marketing Manager, were in attendance at the meeting and gave a presentation in relation to their company’s business, plans for investment in Middlesbrough and post Covid-19 recovery.

 

CityFibre was a competitive fibre builder, building brand new networks across sixty plus cities in the UK.  The overall investment for the project was £4 billion and aimed to reach 8 million homes within five years, which was approximately 30% of the UK.  Connecting all UK homes was the core ambition for all of the telecommunications networks.

 

CityFibre had been in the telecommunications sector for ten years and developed an ambition to build fibre networks.  CityFibre had worked with Sky and TalkTalk on a test project in York and then acquired a larger footprint across the UK.  The original aim was to roll out to 26 cities which had now increased to 60, including Middlesbrough.  The company was working with Government, not only focussing on city builds, but to understand how those city builds could be used as jump off points to connected broader rural infrastructure to fibre builds across the UK.

 

Networks were brand new and built from scratch.  The CityFibre team looked at all towns and cities and their existing infrastructure.  Their approach was to develop a well-planned network and install end-to-end fibre everywhere.  All the way from the exchanges to the individual premises would be full fibre.  As well as the opportunity to connect to every single premises or home, a well-planned network would also connect to all mobile sites, 5G, businesses or business parks, and any public sector sites across the town.

 

The investment in Middlesbrough was around £40 million and CityFibre was making some design changes to maximise its reach.  The initial target of 70 to 80 thousand homes had already been increased towards 90 thousand homes with expansion beyond Middlesbrough’s boundaries into Grangetown, South Bank and East Cleveland.  CityFibre had also worked with a company called Regeneris, who had provided data on the value of this long term investment to the town in terms of the impact on the economy in Middlesbrough over the next fifteen years.

 

In terms of consumers, about 92% of homes in the UK with a superfast broadband connection, would receive roughly 30 mbps upwards and this would be a hybrid solution.  The connection would have fibre at some point but also copper.  CityFibre’s broadband was full fibre, so by taking a network connection and working with one of their ISPs (Internet Service Providers), customers would receive speeds of up to 1000 mbps.  It was a synchronous solution providing the ability to upload and download at similar speeds.  One of the key differences was the quality of service and as more people came to rely on the digital structure this was vital.

 

CityFibre’s Middlesbrough build was due to launch in April and the first homes would be connected approximately 3 to 6 months later.  The build programme would be completed mid-2024.  The investment was solely from the private sector and no public sector funding was required.  The company was keen to work in parallel with partners such as the Council and be as collaborative, open and transparent as it could.  Governance structures that met the needs of the local authority, as well as the build, would be established with weekly, monthly or quarterly governance sessions.  Governance sessions could involve reporting against metrics, partnership working with local authority teams, regular feedback and addressing any challenges or problems.  It was acknowledged that the amount of work being undertaken had implications for the town and CityFibre wanted to be transparent and share progress.  CityFibre’s build teams were also keen to look at how they might co-invest in infrastructure and schedule the build around any capital works that the Council might be undertaking.

 

The Area Build Manager provided a detailed overview of the build programme from the initial high level design, planning and sequencing of the build, construction and deployment.  The provisional desktop planning in Middlesbrough was complete and the low level design was underway and in quite an advanced stage.  Surveyors were working in Middlesbrough 5 days a week along with the design partner.  Middlesbrough would have two fibre exchanges: one at Sotheby Road, Skippers Lane Industrial Estate and one at Lytton Street, small industrial estate close to the Town Centre.  This enabled CityFibre to build the network more effectively because of the natural boundary of the railway line that came in from Nunthorpe all the way into the town centre.  Having a fibre exchange on either side massively reduced the need for specialist engineering and also reduced costs.

Two fibre exchanges would enable everyone in Middlesbrough to receive service and the area could be extended to gather up more homes.

 

Connectivity would be to approximately 92.5 thousand premises and about 900 km of fibre cable would be deployed.  As opposed to many of its competitors, CityFibre had a diverse network and therefore a dramatically increased level of resilience should there ever be a strike by a digging machine for example.  The network could be fed in east and west directions and service could be restore quickly.  A single flex line would have presented a number of engineering challenges to navigate the railway and the beck that ran alongside.  Early on in the process of reviewing Middlesbrough, the two flex model was proposed, giving a better coverage and service for residents and a more acceptable level of challenge in terms of engineering.

 

In the full fibre network the primary node was always underground, fed using large fibre cables.  Once the fibre reached the primary node, the fibre could be fed using Duct Pole Access (DPA) or Pole Infrastructure Access (PIA).  DPA used the existing network underground to the property whereas PIA was an overhead install, similar to a telephone line.  The primary node was reached through a secondary node, which was a smaller cabinet taking up to 48 premises maximum.  From that point there were individual 7mm tubes fed to the curtilage of the premises and once an installation was a requested a very small fibre could be blown through and provide connectivity within an hour or two of the installation engineer’s arrival on site.

 

The construction process was straightforward and site setups were in compliance with the Red Book and Code of Practice.  CityFibre’s Build Assurance Engineers and Supervisors performed regular, frequent and robust checks to ensure compliance.  Ducts were laid through narrow trenching or open cut method, rather than thrust boring or other techniques.  Directional drilling might be necessary in some instances above ground, for example on busy roads.  The pavements were always reinstated in accordance with industry standards and subject to robust auditing.  The pavement, roads, and grass verges were always left in the condition they were found as this was key to minimising the impact on residents.

 

Once construction work in a street was completed, the cable teams could work quickly.  Around 1km of cable could be fed through the underground ducts per day using a three man team.  The process was quick and low impact.

 

In terms of community engagement and marketing, all residents and Councillors were kept up to date with what was happening in their area.  CityFibre had released a press release in 2020 in Middlesbrough and had received positive feedback.  Residents’ communications began at the construction stage and carried on throughout the build.  Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, the usual door-knocking team could not be deployed.  However, a couple of weeks prior to construction, a leaflet would be delivered to all premises in the area.   This was followed by a letter which explained any action residents needed to take – such as moving cars off the street – and also provided a FAQs and details of the one line customer service telephone number.

 

Once on site, banners would be installed, to make residents aware that CityFibre were digging in the street.  Wider community engagement included local adverts and events, with information provided on how to pre-register on the website once the service was available.  Throughout the pandemic, CityFibre had made a commitment to safety and all construction workers had vests and received training so that they knew what to do if approached by members of the public.  There were additional banners informing the public that work was permitted and workers were social distancing.

 

There was a one project telephone number for residents’ issues or queries.  All issues raised were tracked and passed onto the build team and none were shut down without being resolved.   CityFibre would also engage with Ward Councillors in trying to get their messages out to the community.

 

Fibre Fans was CityFibre’s school engagement project.  As the construction process built past schools in Middlesbrough, CityFibre would engage with them and had developed free learning materials for curriculum subjects.

 

In response to a query, it was clarified that, depending on the local topography, the fibre installation in a hybrid city such as Middlesbrough was generally 70% overground and 30% underground, although this could change depending on the age profile of the specific location.  Overhead was a much more effective and efficient deployment that minimised impact on the environment.

 

The core network was always underground and water ingress had very little impact on optic fibre, whereas with copper it caused corrosion and electrolyte reaction very quickly.  With regard to durability there was a vast improvement with fibre from copper.

 

CityFibre worked collaboratively with Local Authorities and other Utilities in terms of co-ordinating all planned construction schemes to minimise impact on residents and the environment. 

 

The Vice Chair thanked the CityFibre residents for their attendance.

 

AGREED that the information provided was received and noted.