CityFibre says 70% of broadband switchers on its footprint joining its network

LONDON, Jan 22 (Reuters) – CityFibre said around 70% of the households that changed broadband supplier where its network was available had switched to its services in recent months, with take-up boosted by Sky offering some of the fastest speeds available via its fibre.

The British company, which competes with bigger rivals BT and Virgin Media O2, offers fibre to a range of internet service providers, who use it to provide broadband to households and businesses.

It said more than 50,000 new customers on average joined its network each month in the fourth quarter, a 112% increase year-on-year.

CityFibre has built Britain’s third-largest broadband network, selling fibre broadband via retail providers including Vodafone, TalkTalk and Sky, its newest major customer, which came on board in July.

“Where CityFibre is available we are increasingly the network of choice,” Chief Executive Simon Holden said in an interview.

The installations were split between ISPs (internet service providers) moving customers typically on slower fibre-copper connections on BT’s Openreach network and households switching provider to get faster speeds or better value, he said.

“In the new acquisition market, we think we were taking about a 70% share in Q4, which is pretty spectacular,” he said.

“November was very strong for us, close to three out of four times a customer was changing ISP, they ended up on our network.”

CityFibre, backed by Antin Infrastructure Partners and Goldman Sachs, said on Thursday its 2025 revenue rose 27% to 170 million pounds ($228 million), while adjusted core earnings rose to 29 million pounds from 5 million pounds in 2024.

Holden said the market was edging closer to consolidation, with a growing number of “altnet” networks seeking buyers.

“We just need the sellers to sell at price points that make sense for us,” he said.

($1 = 0.7453 pounds)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate Holton)