CityFibre UK Finish Primary £58m FTTP Broadband Rollout in Reading
Network operator CityFibre, which have so far built their 2.5Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 4.4 million UK premises (4.2m Ready for Service), has today confirmed the completion of their “primary” £58 million build across the large Berkshire (England) town of Reading – including some of its surrounding areas.
CityFibre originally started this deployment back in late 2020, supported by civil engineering contractor Instalcom. The operator’s new network has since laid 1,230km of dense full fibre and is now ready for service to over 97,000 homes, covering around 98% of homes and most businesses in the town and its surrounding areas.
While the primary-build is now complete, CityFibre said they would continue to explore opportunities to connect more homes and businesses, including flats, new-build homes, business parks and homes on private roads.
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Neil Madle, Partnership Manager at CityFibre, said:
“Thriving towns like Reading stand to gain significantly from next-generation digital infrastructure, unlocking new growth and opportunities. Connectivity continues to play a vital role for residents, businesses and public services. With our full fibre network, Reading will enhance its resilience and futureproof its infrastructure, creating value for residents and businesses alike.”
The operator’s main gigabit-capable broadband rivals in the town are naturally Openreach and Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre), which both have good coverage of the area. But a number of alternative networks also have some modest to tiny levels of coverage across the town, including 4th Utility, OFNL (inc. Fibrenest), Glide, Grain and Hyperoptic etc.
CityFibre, which has so far attracted 550,000 (March 2025) live customers and expects to have upgraded their entire network to 10Gbps capable XGS-PON technology by mid-2025 (here), currently still aspires to cover up to 8 million UK premises with their new full fibre network (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity, c.£4.9bn debt and nearly £1bn of BDUK / public subsidy) – representing c.30% of the UK. But quite when they’ll reach that point is unclear.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Where is the debt refinance deal?
Greg Mesch reckoned in 2017 that it would make back its money by 2027 and then it would be making money hand over fist. I’m sure we should all take him at his word.
An agreement is expected to be reached this summer, but the global financial ructions are possibly delaying matters a little.
A lot has happened since 2017; you will find few organisations or authorities that have been able to keep commitments made back then.
@Fara82Light Or were the expectations ever realistic in the first place? The fact that Greg Mesch has profied personally very well out of CityFibre makes me somewhat cynical.
@Big-Dave: I do not have insights into the figures available to the CityFibre leadership, nor the major investors. I would not make any accusations about individuals when I do not have all the facts.
CityFibre appears to have boosted its number of customers by about 6pc in the course of two to three months, from comparison of published figures (here and in FT).