Milton Keynes, which has long been setting the pace when it comes to developing a smart city infrastructure, has signed a deal with Vodafone and CityFibre, becoming even further advanced.
Under the terms of the deal, the city will benefit from a full fibre upgrade, thanks to an investment of £40 million from CityFibre. The announcement puts some flesh on the partnership that was agreed between Vodafone and CityFibre two months ago – Milton Keynes is the first city to benefit from the arrangement.
The new agreement means that the city will benefit from fibre optic cables throughout the city. It will mean that, for example, hospitals will be able to download a 2 gigabyte CT scan in just 17 seconds instead of 11 minutes over a standard broadband connection.
This fiber optic backbone will have major implications for mobile networks too. The fiber backhaul will provide additional capacity to support a range of Internet of Things implementations, as well as providing the infrastructure for future 5G services.
Pioneer
Milton Keynes has long been a British pioneer in IoT services. Its MK:Smart initiative demonstrated a range of innovations in areas such as travel, parking and refuse collection. The new fiber backbone will enable the city to build on these.
Cllr Peter Marland, Leader at Milton Keynes Council, said: “We are delighted that Milton Keynes has been selected as the first city in this full fiber roll-out by Vodafone and CityFibre. As a modern city that prides itself on its smart city ambitions and projects, we are perfectly positioned to make the most of this major private investment in our digital infrastructure. We know that the city will get behind this project to ensure that every home and business unlocks their digital potential.”
