VodafoneThree Extend CityFibre Partnership to Link More UK Mobile Sites

Mobile and broadband operator VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK) has today announced that they’ve extended their existing partnership with CityFibre, which will see the fixed line operator’s full fibre network being used to feed capacity for network transmission services at “selected mobile sites” in support of the operator’s 5G Standalone rollout.

As one of the country’s largest alternative broadband networks, CityFibre’s national Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) infrastructure already covers over 4.7 million UK premises (4.5m Ready for Service) and they aspire to reach 8 million in the future. Many of these can also access their dedicated Ethernet (Leased Line) solutions, and they have a fairly large Dark Fibre network.

At present Vodafone already has a long-term partnership with CityFibre and sells consumers broadband packages over their network. But the operator is also keen to leverage some of the same infrastructure to help fuel their post-merger plan, which includes investing £11bn into upgrading the UK’s 5G mobile infrastructure and coverage over the next decade (here, here and here).

The combined business has previously stated that it aspires to reach more than 99.95% of the UK population with their latest 5G Standalone (5GSA / 5G+) network by 2034 and push fixed wireless access (mobile home broadband) to 82% of households by 2030.

The new agreement will see Vodafone continue their existing broadband partnership with CityFibre, while also naming the operator as a “preferred supplier” for network transmission to connect a number of its mobile sites across the UK and underpinning its 5G+ build. The deal also extends to CityFibre’s future network expansion (up to 8m premises).

Simon Holden, CEO, CityFibre, said:

“CityFibre has digital infrastructure built for the future, enabling our partners to deliver an unbeatable service to their customers. CityFibre has grown with Vodafone and Three’s support, becoming the UK’s wholesale provider of choice, and we are delighted to be a key part of VodafoneThree’s vision as it continues to invest and innovate.”

Max Taylor, CEO of VodafoneThree, said:

“Our mission is to build the UK’s best network and connect every nation, every community, in every corner of the UK, taking 5G Standalone further than any other operator. This partnership with CityFibre supports our ambitions and includes enabling VodafoneThree’s continued growth in the broadband market, bringing our fastest, most reliable broadband to customers in more places.”

At present Vodafone has a total fixed broadband customer base of 1.832 million. But it’s interesting to note in today’s announcement that 330,000 of their residential broadband customers are already connected to CityFibre’s network, which currently offers them packages at speeds of up to 2.2Gbps (they’ve yet to offer the 5Gbps+ tiers).

We haven’t previously seen a base split for CityFibre via Vodafone, so this is an interesting piece of information. Vodafone also works with CommunityFibre and Openreach, although we assume the latter will hold the lion’s share of their base.