Six months after the leading UK internet service provider’s initial commitment to offer full-fibre services over the former altnet’s gigabit network, Giganet is now providing full-fibre broadband services across 27 of CityFibre’s Gigabit Cities in 1.8 million UK homes across the South of England.
Giganet says that strong customer demand coupled with high customer satisfaction rates due to the superior speed and reliability of full-fibre broadband has enabled it to expand rapidly onto more of CityFibre’s networks in locations such as Portsmouth, Cambridge, Cheltenham and Norwich. Rollouts for Swindon, Reading, Plymouth, Crawley and Horsham are set to follow later this year.
“The Giganet team is looking forward to significantly expanding the areas we serve across the South of England,” said chief sales and marketing officer Andrew Skipsey.
“Following tremendous success in Portsmouth, our first residential CityFibre city, our relationship with CityFibre is set to strengthen and develop rapidly. Our focus on customer service, evidenced by our 5 Star Trustpilot rating, puts us in a great position to connect more homes.”
The implementations also come hot on the heels of a recent £250m funding round for Giganet which enable the ISP to expand and accelerate sales and marketing capabilities of full-fibre broadband, as well as build its own full-fibre network in underserved areas across counties including Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and West Sussex.
As part of its £4bn UK-wide Gigabit Cities programme, CityFibre has identified 285 locations that it says are set to benefit from a full-fibre roll-out programme which is expected to be substantially completed by 2025. This will address approximately a third of the UK market including up to 8 million homes, 800,000 businesses, 400,000 public sector sites and 250,000 5G access points for operators such as Three UK.
“We’re thrilled that Giganet has chosen CityFibre’s networks to support their offer of next generation Full Fibre broadband to millions of homes across the South,” said CityFibre chief executive officer Greg Mesch. “We are proud to be offering a new, world-class digital infrastructure platform for ISPs that provides them with improved products and economics, and a true competitive advantage. Giganet’s rapid expansion demonstrates the massive potential for new, dynamic and exciting brands to seize the full-fibre opportunity.”
CityFibre added that it was also evaluating further opportunities to expand its nationwide rollout ambitions. This it said could entail the extension of more of its existing build projects – such as those recently revealed in locations including Middlesbrough, Preston and Peterborough – alongside possible participation in the Building Digital UK programme.
This scheme was launched in 2018 with £200m of UK government investment with the aim of rolling out full-fibre, or fibre-to-the-premises broadband services to rural parts of the country that not touched with a slower fibre-to-the-cabinet service.