Sky to resell CityFibre full fibre broadband

Sky and CityFibre have announced a long-term partnership agreement to bring Sky broadband services to the CityFibre network.

Due to launch sometime in 2025, Sky full fibre broadband will be made available to all 3.8 million premises on the CityFibre network.

CityFibre plan to reach a total of 8 million premises over the next few years, with 1.3 million in hard-to-reach areas through Project Gigabit funding.

Credit: chrisdorney/Shutterstock.com

Sky broadband comes to CityFibre

From 2025, Sky full fibre broadband will be made available on the CityFibre FTTP network, which so far covers over 3.8 million premises.

The announcement has been made by CityFibre, with the pair agreeing a "long-term partnership", which will eventually see Sky available to over 1.3 million premises in hard-to-reach areas thanks to CityFibre's work with the publicly-funded Project Gigabit Programme.

CityFibre offer XGS-PON enabled, up to 10Gbps symmetrical, full fibre broadband, with retail deals already available through resellers up to 2.2Gbps on average.

Sky currently only work with Openreach, providing both fibre to the cabinet and full fibre broadband in their network areas, with a top speed of 900Mbps on their Gigafast plan.

While Openreach already offer a 1.6Gbps broadband plan, which is sold by Vodafone, Sky have yet to adopt this faster speed tier. Yet, it's likely an integration with CityFibre, along with Openreach's own plans to offer symmetrical speeds from 2025, will eventually see Sky offering multi-gigabit deals in the future too.

Amber Pine, Managing Director of Connectivity, said, "Sky's new partnership with CityFibre will mean we can provide fast, reliable and great value broadband to more homes across the UK. This will mean we are able to reach even more people with full fibre, which is essential for the modern home."

Full fibre competition

Sky joins TalkTalk, Vodafone and Zen in their partnerships with CityFibre, with each provider already reselling broadband through both Openreach and CityFibre networks.

While the new agreement with Sky is very positive for CityFibre, in terms of their position in the UK's full fibre broadband market, it may raise concerns for Openreach, as well as newcomer Nexfibre who plan to offer their joint network with Virgin Media on a wholesale basis in the future.

Greg Mesch, CEO at CityFibre said, "This partnership with Sky is a huge vote of confidence in our business and has cemented CityFibre's position as the UK's third digital infrastructure platform. With demand for digital connectivity continuing to grow, CityFibre's network can provide the quality and reliability that people need and the infrastructure competition the UK deserves."

Openreach will see competition from this deal as TalkTalk and Vodafone already prioritise CityFibre connections in overbuild areas between the two networks, and so it's likely Sky will do the same.

CityFibre pricing can also be cheaper both wholesale and in turn for retail customers compared to Openreach, while Openreach has regulatory caps on their pricing due to the size of the incumbent.

The partnership between Sky and CityFibre, while unsurprising, also puts pressure on Nexfibre, a joint venture between the parent companies of Virgin Media and O2.

While Nexfibre is currently only resold by Virgin Media, the network has plans to open access on a wholesale basis to other retailers in the coming years, so rivalry between Sky and Virgin Media could also remain fierce.