Elevate and Xantaro accelerate UK full-fibre reach

The gigabit broadband revolution continues to be on a roll in the UK as two new deployments show the diversity of installations across the country, increasing internet speeds and reliability for residents and businesses across the centre of St Helens, and installing gigabit-capable full-fibre broadband to over 35,000 premises in rural and underserved areas in Cornwall.

In the industrial north-west, business internet and networks provider Elevate has been awarded a contract to build a full-fibre internet network for St Helens Borough Council as part of the town’s Digital Infrastructure Project.

This will support the regeneration of the town centre as part of the Town Fund Programme, funded by the UK government’s Ministry of Homes, Communities and Local Government, and underpins and future-proofs St Helens’ digital ambition to ensure infrastructure will service the requirements of residents, businesses and visitors for decades to come.

The council has planned the project with digital infrastructure company CJ Founds Associates, which has helped it develop the Commercial Case and Contracting Strategy, including wider innovative use cases and digital initiatives.

The contract also sees Elevate working with Tute Education, an online education partner for local authorities, schools and non-mainstream settings. Elevate will give Tute a percentage of the investment to further drive social value by supporting schools, students, parents and carers across St Helens to make connected education more accessible.

Commenting on the deployment, councillor Anthony Burns, leader of St Helens Borough Council, said: “This Town Deal project is a key part of our transformational work to develop St Helens town centre, and will prove a real boost to businesses, residents and visitors, enabling better support for things like future 5G connectivity in the borough. This scheme will also provide digital infrastructure pulling together the other Town Deal project sites across St Helens town centre, making us one of the most digitally connected towns in the region.”

In Cornwall, meanwhile, as part of its expanding partnership with Wildanet – an independent Cornish internet service provider which claims to be the largest alternative network provider (altnet) in the county – solution provider Xantaro is deploying fully integrated street cabinet and exchange solutions to optimise build speed, enhance network resilience and reduce maintenance costs in a deployment that is part of the UK government’s Project Gigabit scheme.

The two-year deployment deadline is said to require “an aggressive build pace without compromising on quality”. The pre-configured street cabinets and exchange solutions are claimed to offer high-performance connectivity by incorporating an advanced cabinet design solution incorporating Nokia optical line terminals, VIAVI centralised OTDR test heads, out-of-band management. smart locks from iLOQ, and environmental sensors.

By integrating these technologies within a fully pre-tested and configured solution, Xantaro said it is enabling faster, more efficient network roll-out, ensuring that Wildanet’s infrastructure meets the government’s stringent delivery requirements while reducing long-term operational costs.

“Rolling out fibre networks at scale and speed requires smart infrastructure that not only accelerates deployment but also ensures long-term performance,” commented Stephen Kingdom, chief technology officer for fixed networks at Xantaro.

“Our fully integrated, pre-configured street cabinets allow altnets like Wildanet to deploy faster while reducing maintenance overhead. Features like real-time monitoring, smart security, and the inherent noise pollution reduction heat exchangers bring, make these cabinets an ideal solution for high-quality, community-friendly broadband expansion. As [government executive agency] BDUK contracts ramp up, we look forward to supporting more altnets in meeting deployment targets while ensuring the highest quality network experience for communities.”