By BRISTOL247, Tuesday Aug 29, 2017

A bid to future-proof Bristol’s digital capabilities with ultra-fast internet connectivity has helped benefit more than 80 businesses in its first year of operation.

The collaboration between CityFibre and Triangle Networks to bring Gigabit City status to the region was the first of its kind and aimed to drive economic growth and boost competitiveness and productivity across local enterprise.

With 69km of full-fibre infrastructure running beneath the city streets, past Filton to Almondsbury and across the city centre, Bristol has been transformed into one of the best connected cities on the planet and thousands of businesses are within reach of the network.

 

Wildseed Studios were one of the first companies to join CityFibre’s Bristol network

Production firm Wildseed Studios were one of the first companies to gain a gigabit boost.

The company’s networking manager, Chris Pearless, said: “The gigabit connection has given us flexibility. Instead of days, we can now make changes in hours. It’s added an agility and quality to our production we haven’t seen before.”

The fast internet connection is also proving vital in enabling medical tech firm, Micrima, to share large files quickly and work to revolutionise the sector with its breast imaging technology.

Dr Peter Bannister, the company’s chief technology officer, said: “Cancer detection imaging is very data intensive. Some medical research projects have to leave out large amounts of data from findings as moving it can be difficult.

“Now thanks to our CityFibre connection, we have exceptional bandwidth that enables us to process anything we can analyse or design.”

 

Thousands of businesses are within the Gigabit network

The partnership offers connectivity speeds that are up to 100 faster than the UK’s average and CityFibre says its network has enabled a number of Bristol firms to revolutionise the way they do business as they are no longer held back by the likes of bandwidth restraints.

“With our thirst for connectivity growing larger every day, Bristol is well placed to make the most of its full-fibre infrastructure,” said Nick Gray, city development manager for CityFibre.

“It’s been great to welcome businesses to the network from key industries across the city. Bristol is truly embracing the full-fibre revolution and it’s great to see.”

The company says that as well as embracing new technologies, Gigabit City infrastructure is more resilient than legacy copper infrastructure and, thus, capable of meeting Bristol’s needs for years to come.

Paul Anslow, managing director at Triangle, said: “As our lives and working environments become increasingly digitised, connectivity plays a huge role in driving us forward.

“Now is the time for businesses in the city to future-proof their connectivity and discover the great benefits ultrafast broadband can offer. We ‘re excited to work with even more businesses across Bristol providing them with affordable connectivity.”