MLL Telecom and CityFibre have announced a new partnership to deliver gigabit fibre connections to local businesses over a new fibre network being built by the latter.

The new offering, FibreConnect, was announced during Stirling Business Week, and will build on initiatives made by the city to become more agile and increase productivity by embracing technologies such as cloud computing software, high quality video conferencing and smart office appliances. The CityFibre fibre network currently spans 24km from Bannockburn to the Stirling Agricultural centre.

The FibreConnect offer provides Internet access at speeds of 100Mbps, 500Mbps and 1000Mbps as either a monitored or fully managed service, with the promise of zero buffering. The men and women of Stirling can search for as many Haggis recipes as their hearts desire.

“Stirling is a city with big ambitions and its 3000-strong business community is no different,” said Jeremy Wastie, Head of New Business, Public Sector at MLL Telecom. “We are excited to be a driving force in aiding the city’s entrepreneurial business growth. Our ultrafast FibreConnect services will give local businesses the much-needed connectivity speeds to boost productivity and create new jobs that will ultimately benefit the entire community.”

“Full fibre is the gold standard in digital connectivity and a ‘must have’ foundation for growth and development in the digital age,” said James McClafferty, Head of regional development at CityFibre. “This makes it an especially vital asset for thriving cities like Stirling, which is ambitious to become a hotbed for digital innovation, new start-ups and business growth.”

“Businesses in Stirling have been crying out for greater digital infrastructure that can support their ambitious growth plans for some time,” said Gordon Bell, CEO of local business support organisation, STEP. “It’s very exciting to hear that ‘Gigabit City’ status will put Stirling ahead of the game in the UK for connectivity, allowing these businesses to not only grow but to take their business to the next level.”

Stirling has been receiving a fair bit of attention recently after Vodafone continued the rollout of its Gigabit broadband services in the city. Stirling is now the seventh of twelve cities to benefit from the Vodafone and CityFibre challenge to the traditional broadband players.