- CityFibre reports significant customer connection growth with profits rising sharply
- The full-fibre provider nears a symbolic one-million connections milestone
What happened: Connectivity climbs quickly
CityFibre’s network now passes 4.7 million premises, of which 4.5 million are ready for service, meaning the physical infrastructure is in place for service delivery. In 2025, average monthly additions exceeded 50,000 net new connections in the fourth quarter alone, underlining strong demand from Internet Service Provider (ISP) partners and their customers.
The company’s growth comes under the leadership of new CEO Simon Holden, who took the helm in mid-2025 and has since emphasised the strength of CityFibre’s wholesale business model. As he noted, filling the network with paying users is critical to translating infrastructure into long-term revenue.
CityFibre has also been active on the acquisition front: in recent months it integrated Hull-based fibre operator Connexin, adding a network that passes more than 80,000 premises, and it raised £2.3 billion in capital in 2025 through a mix of equity and debt to accelerate rollout and potential further acquisitions.
Also Read: CityFibre expands full‑fiber availability for small businesses
Also Read: CityFibre founder and CEO exits
Why it’s important
For investors and market watchers, customer uptake — not just rollout coverage — is a key metric for CityFibre’s path to sustainable profitability. Higher fibre penetration drives wholesale revenue and can strengthen the company’s case for future financing or expansion. In 2025, overall performance metrics including revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also showed strong growth, underlying the improved business fundamentals.
From a competitive perspective, CityFibre’s momentum plays into the broader UK broadband landscape, where alternative network providers (“altnets”) are increasingly challenging incumbents like BT Openreach. Strong customer growth can help tilt market share and encourage more aggressive pricing or service innovations among rivals.
Greater fibre adoption also supports the UK’s digital economy by enabling faster connections for businesses and households — a critical factor as demand grows for bandwidth in remote work, streaming and cloud-based services.
