UK alternative network provider CityFibre has passed 3 million premises as it continues its full-fibre network rollout to reach up to a third of the UK. The company passed 2 million homes in September 2022 and is on course to deliver a million “ready for service” premises to internet service providers (ISPs) by the end of the year.
CityFibre began the construction of its access network in 2018, completing mobilisation in its first 12 towns and cities, and has since achieved primary build complete status in multiple locations including Milton Keynes, Stirling, Peterborough and Coventry. In its most mature locations, such as Milton Keynes, ISP partners are now approaching 30% take-up with other locations growing on a similar trajectory.
Earlier this year CityFibre secured four Project Gigabit contract awards, totalling £387m in government subsidies to reach 262,000 homes. This has been supported by nearly £223m of committed private investment from CityFibre, representing a combined total investment in Project Gigabit’s target areas of £610m. Within its existing home build programme, CityFibre will also complement its Project Gigabit rollouts in the four counties with expansion to an additional 453,000 premises.
As its network continues to grow and evolve, CityFibre is also going to launch a wholesale 2.5Gb/s symmetrical consumer broadband product. It will be made available to ISP customers on a rolling basis, starting in CityFibre’s most mature XGS-PON deployment areas. The platform will be capable of supporting symmetrical speeds of up to 10Gb/s and is designed to be easily upgraded to 50G PON. By the end of the year, the company aims to have deployed its XGS-PON equipment into more than 90% of its fibre exchanges with the new 2.5Gb/s product becoming available to around 20% of its ready for service footprint, currently.
Greg Mesch, Chief Executive Officer at CityFibre, says: “We have made phenomenal progress this year, matching our performance from last year, and we are on track to deliver another million ready for service homes to customers this year. With an infrastructure project of this size, we have successfully adapted as the market has changed and will continue to fine-tune our rollout in order to meet our targets moving forward. I’m delighted that thanks to our investment, 3 million homes now have access to world class digital infrastructure and we look forward to connecting many more as our rollout progresses.”
Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure Sir John Whittingdale adds: “Millions of homes and businesses from Milton Keynes to Stirling now have access to ultra-fast, reliable broadband and 5G thanks to CityFibre’s delivery of the government’s £5bn Project Gigabit. Having access to fast broadband is a crucial part of our plan to boost economic growth and level up communities, with more than 76% of properties in the UK now able to connect to gigabit-capable broadband. We are confidently moving towards achieving our goal of 85% coverage throughout the UK by 2025 and universal coverage by 2030 and it’s the efforts of providers like CityFibre that will help us get there.”
