CityFibre plans to roll out its fibre network across business parks in 20 cities by next year
Broadband infrastructure challenger CityFibre is to roll out its full fibre network to 20 cities in 2017 as part of new plans announced today.
The scheme is intended to reach some 600 business parks across CityFibre’s 40 city footprint. CityFibre is planning on growing to 100 towns and cities by 2025 across the UK.
“By extending our full fibre roll-outs to business parks across our national network, we are meeting this need, bringing affordable, world-class connectivity to the doorsteps of thousands of our nation’s businesses and preparing our cities for an inevitable future upgrade to ubiquitous fibre connectivity,” said Greg Mesch, chief executive of CityFibre.
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The UK broadband market is currently awaiting a decision from industry watchdog Ofcom over BT’s infrastructure arm Openreach. The regulator is currently weighing to what extent BT will have to separate Openreach after its consultation closed in October.
BT has promised £6bn of investment over the next three years in the UK’s broadband infrastructure once the company comes to an agreement with the watchdog.
BT’s rivals, who rely on Openreach to service their own customers, have campaigned for it to be hived off from BT entirely, claiming BT’s control has held back fibre broadband investment.
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Minister of state for digital and culture Matt Hancock said: “It will give small businesses across the country access to fast and reliable broadband and encourage other emerging providers to scale up so we remain a world-leading economy.”