CityFibre to buy FibreNation from TalkTalk, tweaks Vodafone FTTH deployment agreement

UK alternative fiber to the home (FTTH) network operator CityFibre has agreed to acquire TalkTalk Group’s FibreNation FTTH infrastructure arm (and TalkTalk’s shareholding in Bolt Pro Tem Ltd.) for £200 million ($261 million) in cash. The company also says it has modified the terms of its FTTH roll-out agreement with Vodafone to enable CityFibre to more rapidly open to other service providers the fiber broadband infrastructure the agreement covers.

Service provider TalkTalk says the sale is contingent upon shareholder approval; the company expects the acquisition to close this March. CityFibre adds the addition of FibreNation’s FTTH infrastructure will enable the company to expand its roll-out target from 5 million to up to 8 million premises. The agreement, if consummated, will see TalkTalk become a CityFibre customer for the provision of both residential and business services.

FibreNation was founded in 2018, four years after the signing of a joint venture agreement among CityFibre, TalkTalk, and Sky with an initial focus on providing fiber-based services in York (see "Sky, TalkTalk, CityFibre partner for 1-Gbps FTTH in York"); the agreement evolved in such a way that TalkTalk became the owner and operator of FibreNation, with Sky as a customer. The company’s footprint encompasses approximately 49,000 premises, with expansion underway in Harrogate and Dewsbury and in the initial stages in Knaresborough and Ripon. The companies plan to establish a Northern Centre of Excellence to aid in the FTTH infrastructure deployment.

“Today’s announcement establishes CityFibre as the UK’s third national digital infrastructure platform allowing millions more consumers and businesses to benefit from access to faster, more reliable services,” stated Greg Mesch, CityFibre’s chief executive. “The UK is a service-based economy, and this runs best on full fiber. Ensuring national coverage is critical and this can only be achieved by driving infrastructure competition at scale. This deal demonstrates the appetite from industry to see it established.”

“This agreement is good news for TalkTalk and good news for Britain’s fiber roll-out,” added Tristia Harrison, chief executive of TalkTalk. “Our investment over the last five years and the excellent work delivered by the FibreNation team, combined with CityFibre’s well-established platform, will support wide-geographical reach of full fiber and further drive competition and customer take-up in the market.”

Meanwhile, Vodafone and CityFibre have amended an agreement first announced in late 2017 that saw CityFibre named the service provider’s preferred infrastructure vendor (see “Vodafone chooses CityFibre FTTP network for UK broadband delivery”). The Vodafone Gigafast Broadband service is available in 11 towns and cities, with more on the way.

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