CityFibre is an independent British network provider, providing gigabit-capable FTTPbroadband across the UK. It is the third-largest network provider in the UK, after Openreach and Virgin Media.[3][4][5] It is sometimes referred to as an "altnet" (alternative network provider), in reference to being an alternative option to Openreach.[6][7][8]
The company has rapidly expanded across the UK, with a focus of expanding high-speed internet access in "second-cities", locations that were otherwise neglected by competitors. Prior to CityFibre's investment, for example, the average internet speed in Milton Keynes was 26.6Mbps, 17.4Mbps lower than the national average.[9][10]
In March 2023, it was reported that City Fibre and Virgin Media were discussing a potential acquisition.[8]
Fibre rollout
In 2015, CityFibre purchased regional telecoms group Kcom, tripling the size of its high speed fibre network.[20] The following year, CityFibre generated profit for the first time. At the time, its network covered "20% of the UK".[14]
From the early 2020s, CityFibre has been rapidly expanding its access across the UK, with plans to cover one-third of the country with gigabit internet by 2025.[21][11][6][3][5] In 2022, the company completed successful trials of 2Gbps residential services in York, with further plans to increase speeds up-to 10Gbps using XGS-PON technology.[22][23]
In November 2022, CityFibre entered into partnership with the internet service provider Toob.[17] In December, CityFibre filed a Competition Act complaint to the Competition and Markets Authority and Ofcom alleging that its competitor, Openreach, had attempted to suppress opposition.[24]
In 2023, CityFibre was awarded £69m in funding from the British governments Project Gigabit initiative, to help in expanding gigabit internet access in rural properties across Cambridgeshire.[25] They also secured funding for expansions into Hampshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk.[26][27] In January, CityFibre reported that they were building at the rate of 22,000 premises per week, across 75 metropolitan areas, with a 83% increase in their network footprint in 2022.[3]
In May, it was announced that TalkTalk would be using CityFibre networks for its business customers.[28] In June, ISP Yayzi became the first ISP on the CityFibre network to offer up-to 2.5Gpbs to consumers, thanks to the usage of XGS-PON technology. Vodafone had previously offered 2Gbps, however this was on a limited basis for trialling purposes.[29] This offering was expanded in July, when CityFibre announced it was making a 2.5Gbps broadband tier available to all of their retail ISPs.[30][31]
