CityFibre has entered into the next phase of its challenge to the connectivity status quo with an additional 14 towns and cities to experience the full-fibre euphoria.

Although CityFibre has always presented itself as a challenger to the status quo, it was little more than an also ran until investment found its way across the Atlantic. With capital secured from Goldman Sachs’ Street Infrastructure Partners fund, CityFibre has been buoyed to build out its fibre spine into a genuine connectivity challenger. This latest expansion will take the number of full-fibre deployments across the UK to 26.

“CityFibre’s sole purpose is to deliver the future-proof digital infrastructure the UK deserves,” said CityFibre CEO Greg Mesch.

“With a new Prime Minister set to increase government’s ambitions for the pace of full fibre rollout, we are delighted to welcome another 14 towns and cities to our Gigabit City Club. These Gigabit Cities will not only gain new full fibre networks that will spark their digital transformation, but also unleash the benefits that only competitive infrastructure investment can bring.

“Our rollout to five million homes is gathering momentum. We have now confirmed 26 locations and over two million homes in our programme. We are investing, we are building, and we are connecting customers to networks of the future.”

The new towns and cities on the CityFibre expansion roadmap are; Batley, Bradford, Derby, Dewsbury, Doncaster, Inverness, Ipswich, Leicester, Lowestoft, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Rotherham, Slough, Swindon and Worthing. These new projects will take the number of homes connected by CityFibre to two million, once completed of course, with CityFibre estimating the construction will create 3,5000 jobs.

For the UK, such ambitious moves will be nothing but good news. After ignoring the call for full-fibre connectivity for years, the Government is certainly taking an aggressive approach now. Not only are Openreach and Virgin Media aggressively expanding, numerous other challengers, nicknamed ‘alt-nets’ are providing additional momentum.

CityFibre might be the most recognisable name in the alt-net field, though others such as HyperOptic and Gigaclear are becoming more than a flash in the pan. There might be a need for consolidation in the future, but right now the additional competition is forcing aggressive geographical expansion of full-fibre networks.