CityFibre bags £1.1bn for nationwide fibre rollout

During yesteryear, CityFibre was known for moaning for the sake of moaning, but in securing a debt package of £1.12 billion, the firm’s ambitions are starting to look very real and very interesting.

Seven banks have financed the transaction, ABN AMRO, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Bank plc, Natixis, NatWest, Santander and Société Générale, which will serve as the first installment of CityFibre’s £2.5 billion commitment for a nationwide fibre rollout. CityFibre has given itself a target of providing fibre to five million homes, a third of the Government’s target of 15 million, by 2025.

“The appetite from these institutions to support our financing is further evidence that CityFibre’s strategy is the right one for the UK,” said Terry Hart, CityFibre’s CFO.

“As our networks are rolled out, this will benefit everyone, driving innovation and increasing fibre penetration across the UK, providing the future-proof digital connectivity the UK needs. CityFibre’s target to reach five million homes by 2025, as well as thousands of businesses and public-sector sites, will catalyse huge economic growth in regional towns and cities across the country.”

CityFibre made it abundantly clear in its statement that this is an endorsement of the firm’s business model from heavy hitting financial institutions, and perhaps it does indicate a change in attitudes from investors.

Back in October, we attended an investor panel session at Broadband World Forum featuring the likes of the European Investment Bank and also Amber Infrastructure, a specialist venture capitalist firm. The message was clear from this panel session; investors are increasingly happy to fuel fibre rollouts as the business case has been justified and consumer demand has been validated.

This is where CityFibre sits. It doesn’t want to be a telco but become a serious infrastructure player. Owning the relationship with the consumer is of zero interest but creating a nationwide alternative to Openreach and becoming a connectivity wholesaler is the big picture. However, to be considered a viable alternative, there needs to be more of a presence than there is today.

Telcos don’t want to have a patchwork of relationships across a country to meet the connectivity demands. Multiple relationships create more overheads and more opportunity for something to go wrong. CityFibre has made good progress in rolling out fibre spines in numerous areas across the UK, but the gaps will have to be plugged if it wants to be a viable and realistic alternative to Openreach.

That said, CityFibre is looking like a business which has the right ingredients for a market which is primed for disruption. Aggressive ambitions, a head-strong CEO and the confidence of being owned by one of the world’s most powerful businesses. CityFibre is a very strong contender to make a genuine and permanent dent in the connectivity infrastructure game.

And a £1.1 billion investment from seven major financial institutions is a very good place to start.