Network infrastructure provider CityFibre plans to build a pure fiber network across Aberdeen to create Scotland’s first Gigabit City.

The project - in collaboration with Scottish service provider Internet For Business (IFB) - will create an infrastructure linking 6000 companies and hundreds of public sector sites through 1Gb speed links that extend through the city.

The initial focus will be on areas likely to provide the right commercial property for data centers, including key industrial estates in the center and south of the city such as Tullos and Altens, as well as northern industrial areas such as Dyce and The Bridge of Don.

Subject to demand, the build program will be extended to industrial areas in the west of the city, such as Westhill and Kingswells.

CityFibre said the economic logic is that infrastructure and data centers will boost Aberdeen’s economy.

In a statement it said that the Gigabit City project is critical for Aberdeen which has become a national economic powerhouse accounting for 28% of Scotland’s GDP.

Of the country’s top 100 companies, 30% are located in Aberdeen which has the second highest broadband take-up rate in the UK.

According to CityFibre, the absence of any cable infrastructure is holding it back.

“With a new competitive Gb fiber infrastructure at its heart, it will leapfrog other Scottish cities to become the best digitally connected city in Scotland,” said a company statement.

CityFibre CEO Greg Mesch said: “We selected Aberdeen as it represents the perfect opportunity for a Gigabit City project.”

“Its economic power, business makeup and absence of alternative network mean that Aberdeen will be in a position to take full advantage of this transformational digital infrastructure,” Mesch said.