Work on the £24m contract began in February and continues until autumn 2022.
The contract will see VolkerSmart Technologies – the smart cities division of VolkerHighways – construct a full fibre network on behalf of CityFibre, to reach almost every home and business across Ipswich.
The works will include excavating 300,000 metres of new trenches around the town and installing ducting, before blowing, splicing and finally testing the fibre optic cables.
Where possible, the team will use existing underground and overhead telecommunications infrastructure for the installation, for less disruption and more speed.
The investment in Ipswich comes as part of CityFibre’s £4bn Gigabit City investment programme across more than 60 towns and cities. CityFibre has already mobilised in 27 towns and cities, has network construction under way in 16 of those cities and towns, with gigabit-speed services live in 11 cities. At its peak the project will create up to 7,000 new construction jobs.
James Thomas, CityFibre’s director of supply chain, said: “We are thrilled to welcome VolkerSmart Technologies to our growing list of build partners. We are confident they will bring a vast amount of expertise to our build in Ipswich. Our intention is to find partners to grow with us and we believe VolkerSmart Technologies will be a model build partner, consistently delivering a high standard of work, and at the pace we require.”
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