BOURNEMOUTH is being promised dramatically faster broadband under a £35million scheme to offer ‘full fibre’ connections to almost every home and business.

CityFibre says the work will also provide the ‘backbone’ for a future rollout of 5G mobile services in the area.

Full fibre connections can deliver much faster speeds than commonly used copper cables – up to one gigabit of data per second.

Currently available to only six per cent of UK properties, full fibre offers download speeds 20 times faster and upload speeds 150 times faster than the average broadband connection.

CityFibre is delivering the upgrade in partnership with Vodafone and customers will initially have to sign up with Vodafone to use the ultra-fast home broadband. Vodafone’s monopoly on the full fibre connections will be “predominantly during the construction phase” and covering the whole town is likely to take three or four years.

CityFibre says users will experience seamless connectivity even when there are multiple devices in the home streaming, downloading and playing. It says the technology will also boost businesses and public services, delivering millions of pounds’ worth of economic benefits.

Around 21,000 households in Bournemouth already have full fibre, which will be integrated into the new network. Expansion to the rest of the town will begin in late summer this year, with Vodafone’s Gigafast broadband going live soon afterwards.

CityFibre chief executive Greg Mesch said: “We are leading the charge to switch over the UK from the copper wires of the past to the fibre of the future. Full fibre is the only infrastructure fit to power our economy in the digital age.

“With the addition of Bournemouth and Northampton to our previously announced Gigabit City projects, we have now identified over one million UK homes that will benefit from world-class connectivity. Our rollouts are gathering momentum and we’re now focusing on selecting the next wave of cities in the programme.”

Neil Blagden, director of digital and commercial operations at Vodafone UK, said: “Full fibre can help fuel everything from hi-tech businesses to connected classrooms and buffer-free households. It will boost the local economies and improve people’s lives.”

Cllr John Beesley, leader of Bournemouth council, said; “Bournemouth is firmly established as a thriving digital town with a world-leading digital sector. An investment of this size strengthens our position of becoming a first-class, smart and connected digital place supporting the future needs of businesses and residents.

“We shall be working closely with CityFibre to ensure the roll out programme is as smooth as possible and that everyone is kept fully up-to-date with their plans.”

CityFibre says its local rollout will initially be confined to Bournemouth, but Poole and Christchurch “could be included at a later date”.