French firm set to roll out ultrafast broadband in St Andrews

A French telecommunications company has signalled its intention to roll out ultrafast broadband to homes and businesses in the St Andrews area.
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Axione Fibre has pinpointed the historic Fife town as part of a £300 million investment which aims to provide four million full-fibre connections to suburban and rural locations throughout the UK.

Based on an open access network model, Axione Fibre acts as a wholesale-only operator partnering with internet service providers, integrators, operators and channel partners to offer gigabit broadband services to end-users.

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To that end, Axione has applied to Fife Council for planning permission to install at least four new street telecommunications cabinets within St Andrews’ conservation area which will connect to the existing Openreach network.

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If approved, the 1.6metre tall green cabinets will be introduced in the North Car Park in Argyle Street, St Mary’s Place Car Park, and at two locations in North Street and South Street.

The company will be supported by its shareholders Bouygues Energies and Services and Vauban Infrastructure Partners, which specifically created the organisation Axione Fibre to deploy and operate the full-fibre network in the UK.

Pierre Vanstoflegatte, president of Axione, said: “In all the countries in which we operate, we want to do more to deliver essential resources to local and regional communities, helping them to forge their future.”

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It is understood Axione has been in talks with Fife Council for some time about developing its network and had initially suggested locations for the proposed new cabinets which council officials deemed unsuitable.

The four newly-proposed locations have come forward following further consultation.

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