CityFibre is set to create 11,000 jobs over three years as expands its fibre network to reach 8m homes in the UK.
Gigabit Networks is a Partner and Midlands City Champion of CityFibre, which has built pure-fibre networks in 25 cities and towns such as Cambridge, Leicester, Nottingham and soon Derby.
The £4bn expansion means around 10,000 new engineers will be trained in fibre splicing, telephone pole climbing and road cutting.
The UK’s Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “Our £5bn commitment to bring faster, gigabit-speed internet to the whole country is key to ensuring everyone is better connected, creating jobs and powering the UK’s economic recovery from coronavirus.
“We’re working closely with firms like CityFibre and I warmly welcome their commitment to building a highly-skilled and diverse telecoms workforce which will boost growth right across the UK.”
The move comes as the telecoms industry seeks to replace slower, ageing copper lines with fibre cables has picked up.
Boris Johnson, the prime minister, has pledged that all households should be able to connect to a “gigabit speed” broadband line by 2025.
CityFibre was bought by Goldman Sachs’ West Street Infrastructure Fund and Antin Infrastructure Partners in 2017.
The massive recruitment push kicks off this month and seeks to hire more female and black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) workers which the company said are under-represented in the telecoms workforce.
gigabit cities, infrastructure