CityFibre reported its first full-year profit in 2024, with a 34% revenue increase to £134 million. The company expanded its network to 4.3 million premises and secured £865 million from Project Gigabit.
CityFibre has launched the deployment of its full-fibre network in nine UK regions as part of Project Gigabit. This £5 billion initiative aims to connect over 1.3 million homes and businesses, reducing Britain’s digital divide.
CityFibre’s recent strategic move to sell its ISP subsidiary, Lit Fibre, back to its original founders aligns with their focus on wholesale network provision. This decision reinforces CityFibre’s commitment to enhancing its robust full-fibre network.
CityFibre, the UK’s largest alternative network, has committed £150,000 to STEM Learning, bolstering STEM education through innovative initiatives targeting 80 schools in the Project Gigabit footprint. This funding aims to support computer science lessons and inspire students, especially girls, to engage in STEM careers.
CityFibre, the UK alternative network provider, urgently seeks external funding to maintain pace against competitors like Openreach. Despite financial challenges, CityFibre reported impressive growth with a revenue surge to £99.67 million in 2023.
The recent partnership between CityFibre and Sky has significant implications for the UK’s broadband market, potentially challenging BT’s dominance. This deal extends Sky’s services, enhancing competition and driving innovation. Industry experts suggest that while BT faces pressure, the partnership signals confidence in the emerging alternative networks.
In a strategic move to bolster its network reach, alternative fibre builder CityFibre has successfully acquired Lit Fibre, marking the first step in its plan to consolidate within the UK’s burgeoning altnet sector. Lit Fibre, known for its vertically integrated model encompassing both network construction and ISP services, currently serves over 220,000 premises across more than 20 towns in several regions.
In a bold move that underscores its commitment to leading the UK’s fibre optic expansion, CityFibre has acquired Lit Fibre, a smaller but significant player in the market. This strategic acquisition is set to boost CityFibre’s reach by an additional 300,000 premises, signaling a significant step in its quest to become the nation’s third major infrastructure platform, alongside giants like Virgin Media O2 and Openreach.
CityFibre’s new, True Gig provides a 1.2 Gbps wholesale service, aiming to clear the haze in UK telecommunications advertising and help ISPs deliver gigabit broadband services to their customers. This offering not only circumvents stringent advertising regulations but also supports CityFibre’s vision of an honest high-speed fibre network. The question posed is, will this clear the muddy waters of broadband advertising while promoting a fibre revolution in the UK?
CityFibre teams up with four civil engineering firms to aid challenging fibre infrastructure projects in the UK, courtesy of recent government funding. This alliance hastens fibre infrastructure development across several counties, marking Cambridgeshire as the initial rollout area. Noteworthy, however, is the lack of equivalent high-speed, Gigabit-capable infrastructure in these areas before. Although progress has been steady with Project Gigabit, this new venture signals a grand advancement towards achieving nationwide high-speed connectivity.
