CityFibre, the independent full fibre platform, has announced its city manager for Lincoln as it starts work on a £21m project that will see almost every home and business benefit from access to a full fibre broadband network.
Lincoln has been chosen as one of the latest cities to benefit from CityFibre’s £4bn Gigabit City Investment Programme, which will bring next generation, gigabit-speed broadband to nearly every home and business in the city, and to up to 8 million premises nationwide.
Neal Wright has been appointed by CityFibre to spearhead delivery of the Lincoln project. As city manager, Neal will be responsible for ensuring a state-of-the-art full fibre network is rolled out with minimal disruption while delivering maximum benefit for the wider community.
Neal will be overseeing work on Saxilby Road, a main access route to the city centre which saw some initial work commence yesterday, with further works due to start on Greetwell Road on 28 February. The work in Saxilby Road is planned to take around two days, while the rollout in Greetwell Road is scheduled for completion on 11 March, with traffic management systems to help minimise disruption.
Works will then progress onto Monks Road, Cannon and Winn Street.
With over 20 years’ experience in the telecoms industry, Neal is passionate about technology, digital infrastructure, and the benefits of full fibre connectivity. He joined CityFibre in 2017 having previously worked in wholesale for 10 years, where he was responsible for signing on internet service providers as partners and selling private circuits and complex WAN solutions.
Neal is also currently responsible for overseeing CityFibre’s £21m full fibre rollout in Worcester, having previously led projects in Derby and Nottingham.
Building on his wealth of experience, his new role with CityFibre will position Neal as the lead point-of-contact for all of Lincoln’s stakeholders. He will also be a key advocate of the benefits that a full fibre network will bring to city’s residents and businesses.
He said: “A state-of-the-art digital infrastructure plays a crucial role in growing and protecting local economies and I’m delighted to be leading such works in Lincoln, which will transform the city’s digital capabilities for decades to come.
“While the benefits of full fibre broadband are undeniable, we completely understand that this project is a major undertaking for the community – particularly when we need to install the network in busy arteries such as Saxilby Road and Greetwell Road. We’d like to reassure Lincoln residents that we are doing everything we can to manage disruption as much as possible, and thank them for their support and patience.”
He continued: “As we roll out the new network, we will abide by all council processes and keep residents updated. Once construction is complete, households in Lincoln will be among the growing number of UK communities with access to full fibre broadband, unlocking a new world of digital opportunity.”
Construction of the full fibre network is being delivered by Trust Utility Management on behalf of CityFibre.
