BROADBAND speeds in Swindon are set to be transformed by a £40m investment.

Work will start soon on constructing a new network in the borough which promises to bring gigabit-capable connectivity to nearly every home and business in the borough – 12 times quicker than most superfast broadband speeds.

CityFibre has chosen to splash out in Swindon as part of its drive to replace the nation's legacy networks with a full-fibre upgrade fit for the future.

The rebuild will also provide a platform for a new generation of “smart city” applications and the roll-out of 5G mobile services.

The telecommunications infrastructure firm’s manager for the Swindon project Neil Madle said: “We're future-proofing Swindon for its data needs.

"More and more people are working from home and we know they need faster speeds and more bandwidth. We know there are many businesses who need more bandwidth now.

“Our homes are becoming more and more networked – smart fridges, smart heating systems and metres all need to be able to send and receive data on the network. And we’re all downloading more and more – so this will allow everyone in the house to be on the network at the same time without slowing down the download speed.”

CityFibre is spending £40m on replacing the network and will recover its costs from internet service providers who use it.

The company will be replacing the old-style copper telephone cables which are still commonly used for the last leg of the network between the nearest communications cabinet and the user.

But the fibre optic cables won’t automatically be run into every house.

Mr Madle, who worked at Raychem (now Tyco) and Equiinet in Swindon in the 90s and early part of the century, added: “We’ll be putting in the capability for full-fibre to nearly every home.

"As we replace some of the cabling, there’ll be a box about the size of a mobile phone outside every home on and then anyone who wants to have the fibre direct into their house can be connected into that.”

Mr Madle said how disruptive installing the last length of fibre would be will depend on the individual property, adding: “We will be able to use the existing infrastructure if it’s there, but it might mean we have to dig a channel to the home.

“In general, across Swindon, the whole project will be what we call a hybrid. We will use existing ducting and junctions where we can, but it’s likely there will be some digging of new channels.”

Swindon Borough Council leader David Renard said “Every modern, vibrant economy needs access to fast broadband and we have made it a priority to ensure residents and businesses in Swindon are able to benefit from the latest technology.

“We welcome CityFibre’s investment in our town as it furthers our aim of providing a future-proofed, full-fibre digital infrastructure and a greater choice for the people of Swindon.”

Work is expected to start in October, with the network finally completed in three to four years. The construction work will be carried out by VolkerSmart Technologies.

Any residents who interested in getting full-fibre broadband to their homes can register with CityFibre at cityfibre.com/residential