The i3 Group ( Fibrecity ), which is currently rolling out several "super-fast" 100Mbps fibre optic ( FTTH ) broadband networks to businesses and residents around cities in the UK (e.g. Bournemouth), has announced the appointment of an ex-BT Broadcast Services boss, Mark Smith, to the post of CEO at Opencity Media Ltd.

Opencity Media is responsible for i3's open infrastructure approach to fibre optic broadband networks; service and content providers market their services on the network via the Fibrecity Open Access Gateway. Opencity also runs the self service portal that enables people to easily and instantly select next gen services from a range of ISP and content operators.


We would certainly like to see more identifiable ISPs on the platform, which is one of the current drawbacks. To date the primary supporting ISPs (e.g. Fibreband) appear to have grown up around i3's offering and there is a lack of involvement from truly independent providers.

Smith has also served on the main boards of Eutelsat and LG Telecom. He most recently served as CEO of NXVision, a provider of set-top box applications.