New research suggests that economic benefits worth over £40 billion will be reaped by CityFibre’s full-fibre rollout.
The research – conducted by consultancy firm Hatch – covers a 15-year period and examines the rollout across 285 cities, towns, and villages in England and Scotland.
Boosts to productivity and innovation account for £22 billion of the economic benefits; with poor connectivity no longer posing a barrier.
As more people transition to remote or hybrid working – further driven by skyrocketing fuel prices – full-fibre is helping to keep connections with colleagues and customers stronger than ever. Productivity benefits from supporting flexible working are set to drive an additional £1.2 billion.
The access to a wider talent pool that full-fibre across the country provides will deliver a further £4.8 billion of economic benefits, according to the research.
Finally, the report estimates that up to £15 billion in value will be added to homes covered by the full-fibre rollout.
Here’s the complete breakdown of the direct economic benefits:
| Impact | Value |
| Productivity and innovation benefit | £22 billion |
| House value increase | £15 billion |
| Widened workforce | £4.9 billion |
| Direct build impact | £1.4 billion |
| Flexible working | £1.3 billion |
| Local gov operational efficiency savings | £1.1 billion |
| Construction jobs | £16,400 |
Greg Mesch, Chief Executive at CityFibre, said:
“This report demonstrates just how powerful a tool full-fibre is in levelling up the UK.
Digital infrastructure competition is driving billions of pounds of private investment from incumbents and challengers and every pound spent is unlocking economic growth, new jobs, and more efficient public services in some of the most deprived parts of the country.
We’re delighted to see the impact of our contribution and we look forward to playing an ever-larger role in future.”
Significant non-direct economic benefits worth over £80 billion were also identified in the report.
Unsurprisingly, 5G (£53B) is highlighted as the biggest indirect beneficiary of the full-fibre rollout. This is followed by the IoT (£16B), smart cities (£9B), healthcare (£2.7B), and the monetised value of carbon emissions reduction (£175M) expected from the rollout.
“This report from CityFibre highlights the huge productivity boost full-fibre can give the economy and is a critical part of levelling up, with the north of England standing to benefit the most from private-led investment,” commented Henri Murison, Director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership.
“It is now the role of government to make sure that any public investment maximises what can be achieved through piggybacking on these benefits derived from effective competition.”
A full copy of the research can be found here (PDF)
(Photo by Christopher Bill on Unsplash)
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