ISP Sky Broadband Launch Pilot of CityFibre Based UK Full Fibre Packages UPDATE
In a major shift for one of the UK market’s largest retail ISPs, Sky Broadband has quietly begun introducing a new, albeit not currently cheaper, range of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based home broadband packages that harness CityFibre’s alternative national network. Previously, Sky only sold packages via Openreach’s network.
The agreement with CityFibre was first officially revealed in August 2024 (here), although it’s taken Sky this long to introduce the new packages because they’ve had to get all of their systems, support and services ready to cater for the added complexity of selling to millions of customers via two different networks.
In theory, Sky should benefit from the deal by virtue of the fact that they’ll be able to launch faster (symmetric speed) and more competitively priced full fibre broadband packages into areas currently covered by CityFibre’s network (these will be given preference in areas of overbuild with Openreach).
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On the flip side, CityFibre should benefit by virtue of gaining access to another of the market’s largest retail broadband providers (they already work with TalkTalk, Vodafone, Zen Internet and others), which has the potential to significantly increase take-up (over time) on their new network – boosting the business case for future investment.
At the time of writing, Sky has not yet put out an official announcement because this is the start of their open pilot phase, thus the above development was spotted this week during ISPreview’s routine ISP listings update and then confirmed by several other members of our community who had run checks on their own areas. In short, if you live in a CityFibre area, then you’ll now see their packages instead of Openreach’s (i.e. it’s available to new customers, but we’re not yet sure about re-contracting users, which will need another engineer visit to fit the new fibre + ONT modem).
However, the main benefit from this for consumers currently seems to be in terms of CityFibre’s superior upload speeds (symmetric), since at present Sky appears to be using identical pricing to their Openreach tiers and has also not launched any faster packages than 1Gbps (we do expect faster packages to follow).
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CityFibre’s packages are usually cheaper than Openreach’s at wholesale, which should save Sky some money, albeit at the cost of being less competitive with other ISPs on the same network. On the other hand, Sky’s existing pricing is already fairly attractive, so this may not be such a big concern.
One other consideration is that, at the time of writing, Sky does not appear to be listing a new router and so it currently looks as if the Sky Max Hub is still their primary device of choice for the new service too (awaiting confirmation of this). But they will need something better when they start pushing into future multi-Gigabit plans.
The move may worry Openreach, which has previously worked hard to keep Sky Broadband on their side (the earlier Equinox discounts on FTTP may have played a role in that effort). The operator now risks losing even more market share to alternative networks and at an increasingly rapid pace.
However, the growing competition could also make it easier for the BT Group to argue with Ofcom that Openreach should be allowed to respond with greater FTTP discounts or softer regulation, which may become a factor in the current Telecoms Market Review (TAR) process.
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UPDATE 8:50am
Take note that Sky hasn’t yet made their CityFibre plans available via comparison sites, thus you’ll need to go directly to their website, otherwise only the Openreach results may show.
UPDATE 10:55am
The launch appears to be part of Sky’s open customer pilot phase, and the full official launch will come just a little later (we still think July-ish). Separately, we believe Sky may be planning to adopt a UK variant of the Comcast XER10 Wi-Fi 7 router in the UK, albeit obviously branded to Sky. This device features 10Gbps Ethernet ports.
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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Mmmm…Not currently any cheaper and preference for CF in overbuild areas, (i.e. you won’t get a choice?) I can see that putting a lot of people off.
What if you already have Sky via BT in an overbuilt area? Will they come and drill another hole and add another line from the pole and another ONT inside? Will this happen when the deals are live or at renewal?
it’s going to be interesting to see how they manage to placate new customers who do not want a second ONT cluttering their wall. Especially if Sky are keeping any cost savings to themselves.
Can’t see them making progress with their existing customers either.
This is of course the reality for any FTTP network switch. The customer may of course choose not to re-contract and thus pay a higher rate or change provider (not sure how Sky will handle re-contracting options yet), where they may still face a similar dilemma. I’ve got two ONTs on my wall, albeit boxed in away from view, and so they don’t bother me.
Given that Openreach’s FTTP & FTTC network passes somewhere around 30 million homes and CityFibres’ 4.4 million the chances are that it will affect about 15% (750,000?) of Sky customers anyway and it’s not likely they will all be swapped in the first week.
Part of the problem is the current CF ONT. If they did one in white it might look a little less conspicuous. It’s an ugly looking thing compared to the latest OR unit and I suspect that will also put a lot of people off.
You’re making the assumption that Sky won’t just start migrating customers mid-contract. This is exactly what TalkTalk did without much engagement with customers which resulted in a high failure rate for Kelly’s engineer installs as customers had to opt out of the “upgrade” on the day. The end result was still thousands of customers being moved to CF from OR even with these install failures.
I think the incentive for Sky will be that CityFibre’s deal provides targets for them to migrate customers to the CF network en-mass and CityFibre picks up the install charge in return. This is likely why Openreach are now offering free upgrades for FTTC to FTTP customers also.
As for new Sky customers, it will always be CF if available otherwise OR.
For those who already have an Openreach ONT I expect Sky to use it so long as it can support the customer’s price plan. There will be cases where only CityFibre’s network can deliver, eg. high symmetrical bandwidth, in which case a CityFibre ONT will have to be installed.
if no ONT is already installed I expect Sky to decide which network to use, thus hiding the installation details from the customer.
@DaveZ The XGS-PON CityFibre ONT is white. I doubt they are still installing the older black ones as they’re upgrading their entire network to XGS-PON.
Most of their network is XGS-PON already. My mothers semi-rural address had CF installed last year and it was XGS-PON. This was an area from the main area they had done as one of their first cities. That would have been GPON originally as so long ago.
@DaveZ, I doubt many people will even know what the ONT looks like when ordering, it is not something that is normally shown in advertising. Mine is behind the TV, out of sight, out of mind.
@John
Not true. I had XGS-PON Cityfibre installed a few weeks ago and my ONT is a black Calix.
£28 to £30 to £31 large provider mentality, lots of clutter in a small price range.
They do that because people will look at the price of the lower speed and then think, it is only a couple of quid more to get a higher speed, then only a couple of quid more again to go higher.
I was thinking of dropping my 500Mb/s down to 200Mb/s, but it is not worth it, only a couple of quid difference a month.
That is why these companies do things like this.
Looks like they have a preference for OpenReach if you have both CityFibre and OpenReach full fibre available.
Wonder if there is a way to work around that.. (Not that I have any intention of ever moving to Sky)
Don’t think they’re available everywhere there’s CityFibre just yet else preference would be CityFibre by the looks.
I believe that some CityFibre areas have exclusive deals with one ISP (Talk Talk maybe?) so these may not be available to Sky.
I don’t think this is true. We have both CF and OR FTTP, and Sky show CF symmetric packages.
Where dual is a dual coverage location (OR and CityFibre) Sky do not have to necessarily choose between wholesale provider at Post Code or Street (although they may do) but on other factors such as whether an ONT already exists, by product or capacity. I’d bet most Sky customers will be on the lower speed packages (very price competitive) and they already have capacity to OR handover points.
I haven’t looked at Sky recently until today. Sky prompt the customer for a phone plan (cost) but it appears later to allow keeping a landline on PAYG at no extra cost. They are also promoting Sky Basic and there are lots of add on services.
This is ideal for CityFibre to raise take-up figures and for Sky to gain access to FTTP where OR will not be FTTP for some years especially where CityFibre is also in competition with VM.
Sky will soon find out the total cost per customer of a given network and adjust accordingly. Sky currently are using their own guys to do the Stage 2 install (CSP to ONT) it will be interesting to see if they do the CityFibre lead in as well.
Once an ONT is in place (either) they are unlikely to switch a customer unless the cost is justified.
Question is will CityFibre going to roll out 85% coverage in UK in the future?
Exactly.
Will this mean Sky will convince Cityfibre to start a rollout in N.Ireland?
Why would CityFibre build to reach 85% uk coverage with private investment?
There’s a reason that Openreach are the supplier of last resort for Type C Project Gigabit contracts. They already have some sort of copper network in virtually every corner of the UK where there are people, given that a lot of it was state built before it was privatised into British Telecom. That means they have a launchpad to start any fibre build in practically any location. The subsidy is there as there is insufficient competition and thus business case to encourage them to do it commercially.
Project Gigabit is probably causing the taxpayer to pay for build where it may have eventually happened commercially anyway however. There’s companies that now exist simply to harvest funding from these contracts, and would cease to exist if the funding stopped.
TJ
They would not need to build a new network. Just find other options on existing networks.
Hard to believe that SKY would have any influence on CityFibre extending their network build because they recommended it, especially when it would come to starting from scratch in Northern Ireland. I believe Netomnia have plans to extend their Network there, beginning this year.
Fibre Schriber:
In N.Ireland the government is more proactive than most other areas of the UK. They paid BT years ago to rollout FTTC which is why our FTTP coverage just hit 90% of properties. Most of the people live in built up areas not just rural farms like some people think. For instance Virgin Media expanded their network here recently mostly from scratch including where i live. So if VM can do it so can Sky with Cityfibre.
@K: l know the situation in Northern Ireland very well. The Conservative Goverment gave the Ulster politicians millions to keep them in power, most of the money was used to supply Full Fibre in harder to reach areas by Fibrus. Virgin Media built their Network in the early 2020’s with RFOG, the later builds have been FTTP completed by Nexfibre, in places such as Crumlin, Coleraine and Portrush, to name a few. Netomnia are in small parts of Belfast and larger areas of Londonderry/Derry, and are to extend their Network further in 2025, in places like Antrim and Ballymena. I still think we won’t see CityFibre in Northern Ireland, of course I could be wrong.
@K: *Just remembered, Confidence and Supply was the term used when the Conservatives gave the Ulster politicians one billion, to keep them in power at that time, well some claimed that was the amount anyway!
Fibre Scriber:
The FTTC upgrade was done before the £150 million broadband deal (which did not go to Openreach anyway – it went to Fibrus). Openreach FTTP in N.Ireland is now at 90% so i hear this week which has nothing to do with any DUP/Theresa May agreement. Several towns like Ballyclare, Larne and surrounding areas only got VM recently. The government money you quoted went to Fibrus which built its own independent network. It is perfectly feasible that Cityfibre may launch in N.Ireland, but we will have to wait and see.
@K: just to reiterate, i said in my post that Fibrus were given money to build their network in hard to cover areas. Not disputing that Openreach have 90% coverage of FTTP in N. Ireland. The Virgin Media rollout you referred to in Ballyclare and Larne is the older RFOG build, but Nexfibre have built the latest XGS-PON close by in Doagh and Ballynure. The ISP for Nexfibre is of course Virgin Media and you can have speeds up to 2Gbps symmetric in the Nexfibre areas, but the cost will be prohibitive for some at around £90 per Month, although you might be able to bargain them down a bit. Virgin are to update their old builds, Hybrid Fibre Coax and RFOG to XGS-PON by 2028, this timescale being UK wide.
Just had a look on the Sky Broadband website and it doesn’t list the Cityfibre option for me even though I actually have Cityfibre via another provider. The only option is the FTTC they have always offered at my address.
Who are you currently with on CityFibre? Is it TalkTalk by any chance.
I’m with iDNET.
All these deals are useless when openreach can’t be bothered to continue 500 yards down the road and do the next village or town.
Oh, woe is you…
These kind of ‘OR can’t be bothered’ wails are so pointless. Openreach are hardly sitting on their arse when it comes to building out full fibre, however much those who’ve not yet got it might like to suggest otherwise.
There are an awful lot of properties in the UK, and Openreach need to proceed with their roll-out in a shrewd way so they stay in business for the coming years. Some folks likely won’t get full fibre *from anyone* for many years yet, and Openreach may well be their best bet to get it eventually.
Openreach will be building until 2030. Unfortunately someone is going to be the one who gets connected on 31st December 2030.
@BG – in the afternoon.
I presume at some stage when the Zzoomm and Full fibre merge is done and dusted and they start with wholesale on the Zzoomm network, Sky will be available on what was the zzoomm network. Not that I would go for sky.
I love reading the posts of people guessing what Sky is going to do, at the end of the day, we don’t know, they could keep people on the OR network, they could give them a deal to change, who knows?
Opps, realised it was city fibre, not full fibre. Early in the morning
I can see lead-in theft coming back again, when I was a OR engineer we would regularly find virgin/ntl/telwest had cut and redirected the Openreach lead-in to their box. Hope OR are savy to this and will be doing audits! Same thing is happening with PIA access unauthorised used of poles and ducts happening everywhere, pay to use one pole but in reality use 4! all needs policing!
Knowing sky overpriced they will be more expensive than other city Fibre suppliers
Now New cf ont are Nokia white box but its 3 times bigger than BT ones
Speeds 1Gb+ would be great to see, especially with the symmetric upload offered on CityFibre.
As an aside, here in Ireland eir/Virgin Media have launched 2Gb and 5Gb plans albeit with a paltry 10% upload speed. Sky Ireland are sure to launch a similiar service at some stage and I wonder will they also be using the new rumoured Comcast modem?
Not anytime soon; Sky were having serious issues with new VoIP services recently in Ireland. But the artificial cap they put on gigabit+ downstream in both ROI and UK, because of their cheap routers, is pants.
But maybe the Comcast router heading to Ireland might bring MapT along with it
Sky broadband over CityFibre is available on my Sky App now. Not sure if my area is a “pilot” or not. £37 for 900 up/down