CityFibre kick-starts £200mn grand plan to challenge Openreach

One of the UK’s most vocal littlemen, CityFibre, has unleashed its cunning plan to challenge Openreach through raising £200 million from the City and acquiring wholesaler Entanet.

Firstly, CityFibre intends to raise minimum gross proceeds of £185 million at 55 pence per share, as well as an additional £15 million through a non-underwritten offer for subscription, from the City. The company is currently listed on the AIM, and turnover totalled £15.4 million across the course of 2016.

“We are building Gigabit Britain, driven by growing demand from Internet Service Providers and their customers to switch to full-fibre infrastructure,” said Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre. “Our announcement to enter the residential market is the first step in our vision to bring gigabit connectivity to millions of UK homes and small businesses.”

“This is about more than just better broadband – this is about future-proofing the digital infrastructure we’ve all come to rely on at work, at school, at home and in our communities. It’s also about stimulating the market, creating jobs and growth. The Government and Ofcom recognise that investment in alternative fibre networks will catalyse growth in the UK’s digital economy as well as reduce the country’s reliance on BT Openreach.”

To support the challenge against the mega-Openreach, CityFibre has also announced the acquisition of voice and data communications provider Entanet for £29 million. It might prove to be quite a savvy little bit of business, as Entanet already has a connectivity portfolio of fixed, wireless and mobile data connectivity services as well as hosted voice and telecoms.

“With Entanet now part of the CityFibre family, our combined offering will accelerate the take-up of services over our growing network footprints, leveraging Entanet’s enviable channel partner network and continuing to transform digital connectivity for thousands of UK businesses,” said Mesch.