Community Fibre Resume UK FTTP Broadband Build – Targets 2 Million+ Premises

One of the UK’s largest alternative network operators, CommunityFibre, has today reported their annual accounts to the end of 2025, which reveals that revenues jumped 48% in the year to £113m and adjusted EBITDA surged by 530% to £50m. But the biggest news is that they’re resuming the build of their 5Gbps FTTP broadband network, targeting “beyond” 2 million premises by 2028-2029.

Just to recap. CommunityFibre has been through quite a few changes over the past few years and, much like many other altnets, they’ve had to contend with the rising cost of network build, strong market competition and high interest rates. All of this previously caused a slowdown in their FTTP rollout and some redundancies (here and here), which resulted in the provider pivoting their strategy to focus more on growing take-up (commercialisation).

However, despite the challenging environment, the provider is looking a fair bit healthier than a lot of other altnets in the same space. The ISP has also grown their own gigabit full fibre (FTTP) broadband network ever so slightly over the past year to cover 1.4 million homes (inc. 185k businesses within 200 metres of their network) – mostly in London and the South East (up from 1.34m homes last year), at a total cost of c. £1bn.

According to CommunityFibre’s summary of their latest accounts (the full report is not yet public), the provider is now on track to exceed £100 million in annualised EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) during the course of 2026, “building on a current run rate of nearly £80 million and reflecting a rapid progression from first breakeven in 2024 to an operationally profitable business“.

“Community Fibre reached a significant milestone in Q1 2026, achieving operational cash flow breakeven, with future cash flows partially reinvested to support funding the next phase of network expansion,” said the announcement. The provider’s broadband customer base also grew to total around 450,000 (up from 429k in Jan 2026), up 23 % year-on-year, “implying a take-up penetration rate of ~33% on average across the network” (some of the early cohorts are already at ~50% penetration).

FY 2025 UPDATE

Financial highlights:

• Revenue increased 48% year-on-year to £113m
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 530% year-on-year to £50m, reflecting operating leverage and disciplined cost management
• On a run-rate basis as of April 2026, Community Fibre is on track to exceed £100 million in annualised EBITDA during the course of 2026, building on a current run rate of nearly £80 million
• Customer base now generating sustainable, positive operating cash flows

Operational highlights:

• Homes passed increased to 1.4m, driven by cost efficient near net network expansion, with more than 185,000 London-based businesses within 200 metres of Community Fibre’s network footprint
• Customer base increased 26% year-on-year to 424,000, supported by strong net additions across both consumer and B2B segments
• Continued strong customer satisfaction, supported by high-quality service delivery and competitive, transparent pricing

o Strong customer ratings (4.7/5 Trustpilot, 4.2/5 Google rating)
o High ratings based on excellent customer experience and short time-to-installation, supported by best-in-class customer service KPIs vs competitors

On top of all this the provider has announced an unspecified additional investment to expand its network footprint and “grow our network beyond two million homes and businesses“, which seems to specifically reference a plan to “significantly” extend their reach in London. “We expect this to be substantially completed by 2028-2029“, said the provider.

Graeme Oxby, CEO of Community Fibre, said:

“2025 was a landmark year for Community Fibre. We converted rapid customer growth and outstanding service into strong financial results, delivering revenue of £113m and adjusted EBITDA1 of £50m, up 48% and 530% year-on-year respectively.

With our lean operating model, relentless focus on network and sales excellence, and industry-leading customer experience, we are well positioned to continue growing across consumer, B2B and wholesale, whilst also benefitting from growing demand for connectivity needed for smart city solutions and IoT.

Today we also announce our exciting ambition to invest and increase our network to reach more than two million homes and businesses.”

The company’s Chairman, Olaf Swantee, also highlighted how their “disciplined capital management” had played a role in enabling them to restart their network build, alongside the “resilience of our business model and with the continued support of our shareholders and debt financing partners“.

However, what isn’t yet clear is how much extra funding they’ve been able to secure to feed their network expansion, and what form that investment will take. Similarly, the provider’s summary of their annual accounts has naturally been designed to focus on the positives, while leaving out any mention of the company’s debt and losses (we’ll have to wait for the public accounts to see that).

Nevertheless, it’s good to see another altnet return to the build phase, particularly while most of the other operators remain stalled or in a go-slow phase – often while seeking a way out via consolidation.