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Network operator CityFibre, which have already deployed their 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 4.7 million UK premises (4.5m RFS), has today confirmed that over 400 roles – roughly a third of their workforce (1,400) – could be at risk of redundancy as part of their “shift [in] strategy from building to acquiring networks“.
The network operator, which has long aspired to reach up to 8 million UK premises (c.30% of the UK), previously cut a similar number of jobs during 2023 (here), which was then blamed on the UK’s “struggling” economy (i.e. causing rising costs for their business) and a later desire to focus on delivery of their Project Gigabit roll-out contracts with the Government – worth c.£860m in public subsidy.
Despite all that, CityFibre continues to carry a lot of debt (c.£3.7 billion net debt) and still faces many of the same pressures as other network operators (e.g. high interest rates, rising build costs and competition), which is why last year’s wholesale agreement with Sky Broadband (here) and the £2.3bn funding deal that followed was so crucial (here). The company’s latest results echo this and show a strong improvement in customer take-up.
At the same time, the network operator has continued to talk loudly about their plans for future growth via network consolidation, which has already seen them acquire several smaller network operators (Lit Fibre, Connexin etc.) and there’s long been talk of major deals to follow (e.g. talks are understood to have taken place with several altnets, such as Netomnia). This now seems to be driving the latest round of redundancies.
A CityFibre spokesperson told ISPreview:
“CityFibre has achieved a lot over the past decade, having built next-generation digital infrastructure to reach over 4.7 million UK premises and injecting much-needed competition and choice into the market. As we shift our strategy from building to acquiring networks, backed by our recent £2.3bn financing, the time is right to review how we operate so we are best placed to continue our success through this next phase of growth.
All of our people have helped to get CityFibre into a very strong position and we will support our teams as we take this step and ensure CityFibre becomes the long-term, sustainable competitor the UK needs.”
The operator has also informed ISPreview that these redundancies will not impact the delivery of their Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contracts with the government. A spokesperson said: “We remain committed to our role in Project Gigabit and will have the resources needed to deliver“. But that does suggest that their remaining commercial builds will be taking a backseat in favour of growth via consolidation.