WightFibre held the first of its ‘Gigabit Island’ briefings to over 50 specially invited guests at Cineworld Newport. The event brought together councillors from the Isle of Wight Council, Town and Parish Councils plus leading businesses, business groups and the media. John Irvine, CEO of WightFibre provided an update on the launch of the £35m investment project, reflecting on the pilot project areas of Gurnard Pines and the Staplers area of Newport that have been rolled out during the summer.
“It was a great opportunity to update key stakeholders on the Gigabit Island project,” John said. “We now start the full rollout in Newport to deliver a digital Island fit for the 21st century, that will help the island grow, develop and be a great place to live and work.”
Full-fibre will now be deployed to around 65,000 homes and business across the Island by 2021. Figures showed how 500km of trenches would be dug, containing 5 million meters of duct and 750 million meters of fibre-optic cable, reaching areas not previously served by WightFibre.
Chris Ashman, Director of Regeneration at County Hall also spoke at the briefing, highlighting the close working relationship between WightFibre and Isle of Wight Council. He stressed the importance of full-fibre to the Island’s homes, businesses and economy as a cornerstone of the regeneration programme.
The Cineworld event is the first in a number of briefings that will be held by WightFibre over the course of the Gigabit Island project rollout; ensuring that all stakeholders and communities have the opportunity to find out more and take fuller advantage of this new full fibre network that gives the island some of the fastest broadband speeds in the world with broadband fit for the 21st century.
