Sky Signs Full Fibre Broadband Partnership With CityFibre

Sky will now be able to offer its full fibre broadband service on a telecommunications network belonging to a commercial entity other than BT’s Openreach division.

Sky and London-based CityFibre announced the signing of a “long-term partnership that will see Sky launch broadband services on the CityFibre network.”

The news is being viewed as something of a blow to Sky’s existing partner BT, whose shares fell more than 6 percent to 135.5 pence on the news, wiping nearly $1 billion off its market value.

Sky partners CityFibre

BT of course, via its Openreach division, is the former UK telecoms incumbent and owns the largest network in the country that reaches 99 percent of all premises.

Indeed, Openreach’s network is used by nearly all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the UK, including Sky, to provide broadband and telecom services to millions of customers.

Sky for example is the largest third-party ISP on the Openreach network, with around 5.7 million customers.

The availability of a second network for Sky is a concern for BT investors, as it will allow Sky to opt to use CityFibre’s network (instead of Openreach) in certain locations.

CityFibre of course does not have a footprint similar in size to Openreach, but CityFibre’s network is available in at least 60 cities in the UK and currently reaches 3.8 million UK premises. The firm said it is committed to expand to at least 8 million premises in the coming years.

Sky’s Full Fibre Broadband is expected to be available on CityFibre’s full fibre network from next year (2025).

Longer term, this will include over 1.3 million homes in hard-to-reach areas through CityFibre’s participation in the Government’s Project Gigabit Programme.

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“Sky’s new partnership with CityFibre will mean we can provide fast, reliable and great value broadband to more homes across the UK,” said Amber Pine, Sky’s MD of connectivity. “This will mean we are able to reach even more people with full fibre, which is essential for the modern home.”

“This partnership with Sky is a huge vote of confidence in our business and has cemented CityFibre’s position as the UK’s third digital infrastructure platform,” added Greg Mesch, CEO at CityFibre.

“With demand for digital connectivity continuing to grow, CityFibre’s network can provide the quality and reliability that people need and the infrastructure competition the UK deserves,” said Mesch.

CityFibre is in the process of upgrading its entire network to 10Gbps XGS-PON, supporting the introduction of an expanded symmetrical multi-gigabit product portfolio for its ISP partners.