Sky Broadband Launch WiFi 7 Router and 5Gbps UK Broadband via CityFibre | ISPreview UK

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Internet provider Sky Broadband has today gone fully live via CityFibre’s growing Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based home broadband network. The change is being launched alongside a new Wi-Fi 7 router (“Gigafast+ Hub“) and two new packages – Full Fibre 2.5 Gigafast+ (2.5Gbps) and Full Fibre 5 Gigafast+ (5Gbps).

The agreement with CityFibre was first officially revealed in August 2024 (here) and this finally progressed to the customer pilot phase in May 2025 (here). But it’s taken the ISP this long to introduce the new network and packages because they’ve had to get all of their systems, support and services ready to cater for the added complexity of working with two different networks (Previously, Sky only sold packages via Openreach’s network).

NOTE: Openreach’s full fibre network currently covers 19 million premises (rising up to 30m by 2030), while CityFibre has a footprint of 4.5m (aspiring to reach 8m in the future) – there’s a fair bit of urban overbuild between these two and Sky will probably reference CityFibre in those cases (new customers).

As previously reported, ISPreview has long expected Sky Broadband to benefit from the new partnership with CityFibre by virtue of the fact that they would be able to launch faster (symmetric speed) and more competitively priced full fibre broadband packages into areas currently covered by the operator. Today’s announcement confirms this.

The 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps speed packages will be delivered by Sky’s new cylindrical Gigafast+ Hub, which leverages tri-band WiFi 7 technology (Sky says it is “capable of delivering speeds twice as fast as WiFi 6“) and has been developed in collaboration with parent Comcast. The router also features 2 x 10Gbps Ethernet ports (1 x WAN and 1 x LAN) and “optimises internet traffic to avoid congestion between connected devices in the home“, although we’ve yet to be sent a detailed spec sheet (a request has been made).

Prices start at £70 a month for Full Fibre 2.5 Gigafast+ and £80 a month for Full Fibre 5 Gigafast+ with the WiFi Max add-on available “at no extra cost” (worth from £4 a month). The latter guarantees WiFi coverage in every room or money back (you also get better security, parental controls, device priority, convenient engineer visits and back-up Sky Mobile data for unplanned outages).

The new packages can be purchased today in Sky stores and via Sky’s call centres, as well as online by all eligible customers via Sky.com from the 15th July 2025 (you’ll also be able to get it in Curry’s stores “soon“).

Sophia Ahmad, Chief Consumer Officer at Sky, said:

“We’re proud to be setting a new standard in UK broadband. With speeds up to 5 Gbps, our new Full Fibre Gigafast+ packages make Sky the UK’s fastest major broadband provider. Combined with our existing full fibre range, we’re offering more choice than ever before. Powered by cutting-edge WiFi 7 technology, these plans deliver smarter, faster, and more reliable connectivity to homes across the country.”

Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre, said:

“Sky is making the most of CityFibre’s full fibre network to offer its customers fast and reliable Multi-Gig speeds and an outstanding online experience. This partnership is bringing more choice and better broadband to millions of homes on CityFibre’s nationwide, growing network – vital for how people live today and helping to deliver a healthy, competitive market for the long-term.”

Just to be clear. CityFibre are also supporting Sky’s slower FTTP broadband packages and the prices of those remain roughly aligned with those on the Openreach side of Sky’s network, much as they have been through the pilot phase too. Cityfibre’s tiers are still a bit cheaper, as well as being faster, at wholesale than Openreach’s and so Sky’s revenues may benefit.

At present Openreach can’t match CityFibre’s speeds, although they do appear to have plans for symmetric speeds of up to 3.3Gbps via their new XGS-PON based FTTP network (here). But the operator has yet to begin customer pilots of the new tiers, and the service itself doesn’t currently seem likely to launch (commercially) for ISPs until later in 2026.

The announcement of Sky’s partnership with CityFibre going live also means that the latter should imminently be about to follow it with confirmation of a new £2bn+ funding deal (mix of debt and equity). CityFibre will use this to continue their operations and fuel another round of network consolidation, with several more altnets expected to be acquired in the next few months.

The launch may of Sky’s new products may of course worry Openreach, which has previously worked hard to keep Sky Broadband on their side (the earlier Equinox discounts on FTTP may have played a role in that effort). The operator now risks losing more market share to alternative networks and at an increasingly rapid pace.

However, the growing competition could also make it easier for the BT Group to argue with Ofcom that Openreach should be allowed to respond with greater FTTP discounts or softer regulation, which may become a factor in the current Telecoms Market Review (TAR) process.

UPDATE 10:13am

We’ve managed to get a few more specs for Sky’s new router, which we’re told is currently ONLY available to those taking out Sky’s new 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps packages via CityFibre.

Gigafast+ hub features

WiFi 7 Tri-band (802.11be)
2.4GHz (gigahertz)
5GHz
6GHz

Interfaces

Ethernet
1 x 10 GbE (Gigabit Ethernet) WAN (Wide Area Network) Port
4 x LAN Ports (Local Area Network)
1 x 10 GbE LAN
3 x 1 GbE LAN

Voice
Single RJ-11

Dimensions
125mm x 241mm (W x H)

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