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Sky, TalkTalk and CityFibre team up for TV and gigabit broadband in York

TalkTalk and Sky have teamed up with CityFibre to add TV and expand its gigabit fibre broadband network around the city of York. 

The network will connect homes and businesses to broadband at up to 1Gbps, with TV and phone over the same connection, providing CityFibre, Fujitsu, Sky and TalkTalk with a test run for other UK cities.

The first FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) customers in York are expected to connect in 2015, followed by a further two cities, while CityFibre has networks in a further 50 towns and cities around the UK.

Stephen van Rooyen, managing director of Sky’s sales, marketing and brand group, said: “This trial will help us understand the potential for cutting-edge technology to help us give customers an even better quality of service.”

The new network will be completely independent of BT and won’t rely on any state funding, and follows a two-year partnership between the city, Fujitsu and CityFibre to build a high capacity fibre backbone.

The ultrafast speeds available on the new network are likely to make many outside the project’s target cities envious, since they’re likely to be paying for 10-times-slower BT superfast connections at similar prices.

Dido Harding, chief executive of TalkTalk Group, said: “TalkTalk has a long history and proven track record of disrupting new markets, and this is the next step in that journey. This marks TalkTalk taking its first steps into investing in building infrastructure as part of our mission to make British homes and businesses better off.”

Fujitsu will deploy the FTTP network and this will enable Sky, TalkTalk and CityFibre to offer a competing fibre network to BT’s slower and range-limited FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) technology. 

Councillor James Alexander, leader of City of York council, said: “This announcement makes York the digital infrastructure capital of the UK. Gaining ultra fast broadband across the city is a huge boost for our economy; providing significant new opportunities for businesses based here and better quality and value to our residents.”

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