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The firm passed 2 million premises last September and is currently rolling out fibre at a rate of one million premises per year
UK fibre network operator CityFibre has today announced that its full fibre (FTTP) broadband network now covers 3 million UK premises, with 2.6 million of these ‘Ready For Service’. The figure is up from 2.5 million premises in January this year.
Residents within these areas can now receive internet services from 35–40 Internet Service Providers that currently operate on the CityFibre network.
The rollout is part of CityFibre’s ambitious goal to cover 8 million premises across 285 towns, cities, and villages by 2025, a goal which was set in 2021 by the firm.
If completed, the achieved goal will include coverage for over 800,000 businesses, 400,000 public sector sites, and almost 250,00 5G access points.
The firm first began the construction of its network in 2018 in 12 UK towns and cities and has since achieved “primary build status” in locations such as Stirling, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, and Coventry.
“We have made phenomenal progress this year, matching our performance from last year, and we on track to deliver another million ready for service homes to customers this year,” said Greg Mesch, CityFibre CEO. “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.”
It is worth noting, however, that at Cityfibre’s current FTTP rollout rate of 1 million premises per year, the goal of 8 million premises passed by 2025 will not be reached, perhaps explaining why the firm’s press release of makes no mention of this goal.
In July this year, the firm secured four public funding awards under the government’s Project Gigabit worth a combined £387 million, with the target of reaching 262,000 homes. These grants cover Norfolk, Suffolk, Hampshire, and Cambridgeshire, which are also supported by a parallel private investment from CityFibre of £223 million.
“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 £5 billion Project Gigabit,” said Sir John Whittingdale Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure. “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.”
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