The ongoing saga of the drive to bring superfast broadband to Dundee has taken another twist with news that the company behind the £30 million Fibrecity project has been sold off by its parent group.
However, the new owners say the scheme has not been ditched and work on the ground in the city, which came to a sudden halt in October, could restart by the beginning of next month.
Parent group i3 has sold Fibrecity Holdings to new consortium City Fibre Holdings, along with a number of associated businesses including H2O Networks, Opencity Media and Wireless Network Systems.
City Fibre Holdings is headed by Greg Mesch, former president and chief operating officer of i3 Group and non-executive director of EuNetworks Group, a fibre-optic operator. City Fibre Holdings has said it will reveal its strategy in the coming weeks.
Dundee West MP Jim McGovern said he had already been in touch with the consortium about its acquisition.
“We have been reassured that this takeover should not have an impact on the Fibrecity Dundee project,” he said. “When we spoke to them, they were planning to be back on track at the end of February or start of March.”
Elfed Thomas, CEO of i3 Group, said, “I started this business back in 2002 in order to focus on developing low-cost methods, including the use of ready-made ducts, to build dark optic networks to bring superfast connectivity to homes and businesses.
“This sale to City Fibre Holdings brings the i3 Group’s business in line with our international approach.”
Plans for Dundee to become Scotland’s first fibrecity were announced in June 2008.
The scheme offers around 70,000 homes and businesses the chance to hook up to superfast internet speeds and the project was thought to be one of the factors behind the city being named one of the seven most intelligent communities in the world last year.
More than one in three Dundee households was said to have signed up for the network and work was initially expected to start in summer 2009 and to be completed within two years. But work only started last summer and within weeks, Fibrecity temporarily halted it and 52 staff lost their jobs.
A Dundee City Council spokesman said the local authority had been advised of the change of management and ownership.
Photo by Flickr user wburris.