In a big development, Sky UK (Comcast) has this morning announced that they’ve finally reached a “long-term partnership” (wholesale) agreement with alternative network operator CityFibre, which will enable ISP Sky Broadband to finally launch a new range of multi-gigabit speed capable full fibre (FTTP) broadband packages “from next year“.
All of Sky Broadband’s packages are currently served via Openreach’s national Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) and Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) networks, but it has long been expected that Sky might choose to expand their reach via CityFibre too.
NOTE: Openreach’s national FTTP network covers 15 million premises (c.30m for FTTC+P), while CityFibre has a footprint of 3.8 million, but there’s a fair bit of urban overbuild between the two.
Part of the reason for this stems from the fact that Sky has worked together with CityFibre before – over a decade ago in fact – via a Joint Venture with TalkTalk to pilot FTTP networks in the UK (aka – Ultra Fibre Optic), which was later re-named FibreNation and sold back to CityFibre in 2020 for £206m (here). At the time of that sale, Sky Broadband had already downgraded their involvement, but they remained a wholesale partner.
However, it’s taken another four years for CityFibre to finally succeed in converting Sky Broadband to a full wholesale partnership on their national network, which is a move that may well cause some concern for Openreach. Sky is the UK market’s second-largest provider of residential broadband services, with around 5.7 million customers, although Virgin Media are very close to taking that spot.
CityFibre itself currently aspires to cover up to 8 million UK premises with their new FTTP network (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity, c.£4.9bn debt and c.£800m of BDUK subsidy) – across over 285 cities, towns and villages (c.30% of the UK). But it remains unclear precisely when this will be achieved. The original goal was for the end of 2025, although their current build + M&A plan may get them up to c.6m (if it all goes well).
Amber Pine, Sky’s Managing Director of Connectivity, said:
“Sky’s new partnership with CityFibre will mean we can provide fast, reliable and great value broadband to more homes across the UK. This will mean we are able to reach even more people with full fibre, which is essential for the modern home.”
Greg Mesch, CEO at CityFibre, said:
“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. 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.”
Sky should benefit from the deal by virtue of the fact that they’ll be able to launch faster (symmetric speed) and more competitive full fibre broadband packages, often at lower prices, into areas currently covered by CityFibre’s network (these will be given preference in areas of overbuild with Openreach). The ISP will also benefit from having access to CityFibre’s planned deployment to 1.3m rural premises under their Project Gigabit contracts (inc. both subsidised and complementary commercial build).
At the same time CityFibre will benefit through the addition of a third major ISP after Vodafone and TalkTalk (fourth if we also consider Zen Internet’s contribution), which has the potential to significantly increase take-up on their new network. This will in turn help to support their economic model for future deployments and improve investor confidence.
Breaking news.. more to follow..
