CityFibre launches 8.5Gb product across its network. UK fixed-line wholesaler CityFibre has announced a new 8.5Gb product on its 10Gb XGS-PON network, promising the "next generation of Multi-Gig connectivity." March 31, 2026 The product, as the name suggests, serves up speeds of up to 8.5Gb, enabling Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on the CityFibre network "to provide game changing services that power innovation and growth for homes, businesses and the UK economy," boasts the release. The introduction of it is the next evolution of CityFibre's Multi-Gig portfolio, we're told. It follows "record-breaking" growth in 2025, and the rollout of its 10Gb XGS-PON technology across its nationwide full fibre footprint, which currently reaching over 4.7 million premises and there are plans for it to reach more than 8 million. The firm is rolling out its 10Gb ONT - which is a small in-home device that converts the incoming full-fibre signal into a broadband connection - across all new customer installs, "meaning partners will be able to launch market-leading propositions across a network that's ready for future needs." "CityFibre is the UK's largest, most advanced full fibre network, setting the standard for what people should expect from their connection and enabling all our customers and partners, across consumer, business, mobile and the public sector, to innovate and grow," said Simon Holden, Chief Executive Officer at CityFibre. "Thanks to forward-thinking policy and regulation, and ambitious capital providers, CityFibre is transforming the UK's digital infrastructure and propelling the nation into the global fast lane." In a further bit of tangential boasting, the firm says it is clocking 30,000 customer adds each month as the company approaches one million customers, and in recent months, around 70% of households who were switching broadband provider moved onto the CityFibre network where available. The 8.5Gb product will be available to all of its ISP partners from April 21. In January CityFibre announced its FTTP broadband services for small businesses and home workers was available to 4.5 million premises across its footprint. The services have symmetrical speeds of up to 2.5Gb, and the expansion was enabled by the very same 10Gb XGS-PON upgrade. This followed a tripling of the availability of its enterprise-grade Ethernet services to serve over 260,000 UK businesses, resulting in over 50% YoY growth in the Ethernet sector for the firm last year, the firm said at the time. Later that month it published full year numbers which showed profits surging, with adjusted EBITDA rising to £29 million in 2025 from £5 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 27% to £170 million, with take-up of its XGS-PON network accelerating throughout the second half thanks partly to the launch of new customer Sky. Earlier this month there was some good news for the altnet sector in general - according to a report by INCA, altnets collectively added 850,000 broadband customers in 2025, which represents growth of 32% on-year, with many of their net adds switching from the big broadband providers. Deputy Editor Andrew joined Telecoms.com on the back of an extensive career in tech journalism and content strategy. Prior to Telecoms.com, he held numerous editorial, content marketing and publishing roles covering various technology markets. Want more Telecoms.com stories in your google search results? Join 56,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

Weekly brief - 27/03/2026. Starlink offer reduces pricing in some areas to £25/month. Its friends over at ISPreview have found that Starlink have cut the price of its satellite broadband service to £25/month in some areas. This is a discount of £10/month for the first six months, but it is only available to new customers ordering before the end of April 2026. The discount appears to be available on a range of Starlink products. CityFibre looks to reduce the impact of roadworks. CityFibre is trialling traffic management technology from BUKO, which is designed to reduce congestion on adjacent routes when roads are closed. The technology is said to intercept satnavs to divert users more evenly across alternative routes. It also publishes data using Meta's platforms like Facebook to update users about upcoming diversions. Currently, the firm is testing this in Worthing, West Sussex. "We're excited to be trialling this impressive technology to benefit road users around the Worthing area. Improved communications with drivers will help us to deliver these essential works quickly and safely whilst also ensuring that drivers and residents are impacted as little as possible. It's a win-win." Adrian Smith, Partnership Manager, CityFibre EE confirms first XGS-PON trial customer live on 8Gbps service. The first customer to be connected to an 8Gbps full fibre XGS-PON service over Openreach is now live, according to news reported by ISPreview. This marks the first real-world deployment of XGS-PON on Openreach's network with the trial taking place in parts of West Surrey, including Guildford, Woking and nearby villages. To apply to sign up for the trial, you can visit the BT TrialCentre. VodafoneThree to deploy COWs (Cells on Wheels) at events this year. VodafoneThree has confirmed it will deploy temporary masts known as Cells on Wheels (COWs) at events this year. Cheltenham Race Festival saw these in use earlier this month, and other major sporting events, music festivals and shows, such as the London Marathon, Wimbledon, and the Scottish Open Golf Tournament, will see the herd of COWs deployed.

CityFibre trial new tech to manage road traffic during UK broadband builds. Thursday, Mar 26th, 2026 (10:11 am) - Score 0 Network operator CityFibre, which has so far deployed their 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 4.7 million UK premises (4.5m RFS), has partnered up with BUKO Digital to trial a new traffic (road) management technology to support the delivery of their publicly subsidised Project Gigabit works in West Sussex. The operator currently holds the Government's £108m (public subsidy) Project Gigabit contract for the West & East Sussex (Lot 16 & 1) area of England, which will see them extend their 10Gbps capable FTTP network to an additional 57,000 premises in hard-to-reach rural areas (here and here). NOTE: CityFibre is owned by Antin Infrastructure Partners, Goldman Sachs, Mubadala Investment Company, Interogo Holding etc. The network is supported by UK ISPs such as Vodafone, TalkTalk, Zen Internet, Sky Broadband and more (local ISP availability does vary). As part of this deployment the operator will, from 13th April 2026, need to close Long Furlong road in Worthing for approximately 10 days to complete the network build. Such closures can be highly disruptive for road users - especially on busy roads like this - and so CityFibre are looking to trial a new technology with BUKO Digital to "help keep drivers moving ahead of a road closure". The new Traffic Management technology is designed to improve communication with drivers, support smarter diversions and reduce any congestion on adjacent routes that can occur with road closures. "BUKO's technology intercepts satellite navigation tools such as SatNavs and Google Maps to divert road users more evenly across alternative routes. It also utilises Meta messaging platforms like Facebook to update regular users of affected routes on upcoming diversions," said the announcement. In theory this should enhance communication with drivers and reduce congestion in neighbouring towns, villages and roads etc. The result should be a smoother flow of traffic and better efficiency of works, although it's never going to completely remove disruption for everybody. Adrian Smith, Partnership Manager for CityFibre, said: "We're excited to be trialling this impressive technology to benefit road users around the Worthing area. Improved communications with drivers will help us to deliver these essential works quickly and safely whilst also ensuring that drivers and residents are impacted as little as possible. It's a win-win." The BUKO trial is connected to West Sussex Council's Lane Rental Scheme, which works by attempting to incentivise delivery partners to complete works with minimal disruption.