CityFibre Complete Primary FTTP Broadband Rollout in Kettering

Network operator CityFibre, which have so far deployed their 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 3.6 million UK premises (3.3m RFS), has today announced that they’ve completed their “primary” £17m deployment across the North Northamptonshire (England) town of Kettering.

The original build, supported by local contractor Granemore Group, officially got underway in April 2022 (here) and was due to reach completion by 2024. The good news is that, broadly speaking, they appear to have completed this project more or less on time and seemingly within its original budget.

The new network is now said to be ‘ready for service’ (RFS) at over 25,000 homes, which reflects about 86% of residential properties and “most” businesses in the town. CityFibre is understood to have laid 162km of dense full fibre infrastructure to cover the town.

However, while the primary-build is said to be completed, the operator added that they would “continue to explore opportunities to reach more sites including new build properties, multi-dwelling units, homes on private or unadopted roads and business parks.”

Charlie Kitchin, CityFibre’s Partnership Manager for Kettering, said:

“We’re thrilled to announce that the primary-build of our full fibre network in Kettering is now complete. With the UK’s best available digital infrastructure under its streets, residents can now enjoy seamless streaming with ample productivity and innovation benefits for the local economy. The rollout is an exciting step for Kettering’s connectivity, which will now benefit from faster and more reliable broadband.”

However, the operator’s new network will face competition from some existing gigabit-capable broadband networks in the area, such as Virgin Media, Openreach, FibreNest and Hyperoptic (the latter two only have very limited coverage).

The work supports CityFibre’s wider ambition of covering up to 8 million UK premises (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity and c.£4.9bn debt) – across over 285 cities, towns and villages (c.30% of the UK), although it’s unclear precisely when they will achieve this target (the original goal was for the end of 2025, but their current build + M&A plan may only get them to c.6m).