Full fibre broadband coming to Sunderland

Ever feel like you’re not getting the internet speed that you paid for?

During the past year, many of us will have found out, for better or for worse, whether our home internet is up to the task when it comes to the many demands of lockdown and homeworking.

Video conference calls with colleagues, running multiple software programmes, even simply downloading a file can be a frustrating process, particularly when your internet connection has to contend with housemates and family members that are trying to do the exact same thing.

For large parts of the country, home broadband often isn’t fast or reliable enough to make working from home – alongside family life – a smooth process, and this can add to our day-to-day stress levels.

Construction work will start in Southwick and Hendon in August

CityFibre-backed research has found that a huge 78 per cent of UK consumers felt slowed down and frustrated by their internet connection.

With our home-working odyssey expected to continue this year and even beyond Covid-19, 82 per cent of UK workers are planning on working from home more. It’s clear that strong, reliable broadband is no longer a 'nice-to-have' but an essential utility.

So, what's the solution?

Luckily, the answer to this problem already exists and is being rolled out across Sunderland.

While the term ‘fibre broadband’ is thrown around a lot, often when providers mention fibre, they are referring to connections that are only part-fibre. These connections usually include some copper wiring for the final stretch to your home or business, which is a major factor in slow speeds and dropped connections.

Ever felt like you’re not getting the internet speed that you paid for? The distance you live from your local cabinet and the number of customers using this can make a big impact on your available speed.

From August this year, CityFibre will be building a powerful new network in Sunderland that uses fibre optic cables for the entire length of the journey. This allows for a remarkably fast – think more than ten times faster than the average UK connection for the higher-end packages – and a much more reliable service.

Once the network is live and activated, services capable of gigabit-speeds (1,000Mbps) will be available from an increasing range of broadband providers.

What's next for Sunderland?

August will see construction work start in Sunderland – meaning the first homes will be able to connect early next year.

In time, the network will be brought within reach of almost every house and business in the city.

How can you be among the first people in Sunderland to upgrade to a CityFibre connection? It’s as simple as registering your interest at www.cityfibre.com/SunEcho