CityFibre welcomes Chancellor's £1bn broadband investment

AIM-listed CityFibre, a builder and operator of fibre optic infrastructure, said it welcomes the Treasury's £1bn fund to fast-track the rollout of pure fibre and 5G infrastructure.

The fund is part of the Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement budget, which includes a £400m investment in the digital infrastructure investment fund to boost commercial finance for start-up broadband providers.

The company said that the only way for Britain to close the fibre gap with other developed nations is through increased infrastructure competition.

Chief executive Greg Mesch said Britain's industrial strategy needs a digital backbone, and it is essential that the country moves quickly to plug the fibre gap and empower its service-based economy.

“This new funding, stimulating competitive fibre rollout at scale by new communications infrastructure builders, is a catalyst for the delivery of the UK's fibre future."

The country is already present in 40 towns and cities across the country, including 25 of the top 30 cities outside London, and it plans to expand to 100 cities by 2025.

This would allow it to deliver fibre connectivity to 60% of the UK's businesses and 40% of homes outside London.

The company said its fibre-to-the-home trial with Sky and TalkTalk in York has “demonstrated the critical role that its infrastructure plays in delivering fibre-to-the-home faster and at lower cost”.

Its network in Hull enabled the UK's first dark fibre-to-the-tower 5G deployment, and both fibre-to-the-home and 5G connectivity can be extended across the company’s 40 cities.

Shares in CityFibre were up 1.76% to 0.168p at 1028 GMT.