CityFibre and BDUK agree changes to Project Gigabit rollout following increase in commercial build

• CityFibre has delivered full fibre to nearly 150,000 rural and harder-to-reach premises through Project Gigabit
• A further 300,000 premises will be delivered across nine Project Gigabit contracts by 2030, including 155,000 subsidised premises
• Accelerated market-driven commercial rollout reduces need for subsidised build and ensures taxpayer value for money
• BDUK remains on track to achieve UK government target of 99% UK gigabit coverage by 2032

CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, and Building Digital UK (BDUK), the UK government’s broadband delivery arm, today confirmed that CityFibre’s participation in the Government’s Project Gigabit programme has been re-scoped in response to the accelerated rollout of commercially funded full fibre across Project Gigabit areas.

CityFibre has already successfully delivered full fibre connectivity to nearly 150,000 rural and harder‑to‑reach premises, including over 70,000 subsidised premises. CityFibre’s well-established wholesale model ensures these homes and businesses now have access to a wide selection of full fibre Internet Service Providers, multi-gigabit speed products and some of the best-value services available in the UK.

Within CityFibre’s Project Gigabit areas, the majority of premises originally contracted for subsidy are now within reach of wider commercial rollouts, meaning no public funding is required. This reflects the increased level of commercial full fibre build across rural and harder-to-reach areas since contracts were first awarded in 2023 and demonstrates that the programme is responding effectively to fast‑changing market dynamics while continuing to ensure public funding is targeted appropriately.

The re-scoped rollout, agreed with BDUK, will see CityFibre continue to deliver hundreds of thousands of premises across its nine awarded Project Gigabit contracts. In total, CityFibre expects to connect a total of 450,000 rural and harder-to-reach premises by 2030, including 226,000 subsidised through Project Gigabit. Given the extent of commercial build in these areas, and options for alternative delivery to the remaining premises, these changes will not affect BDUK’s ability to achieve the UK government target of 99% UK gigabit coverage by 2032.

These changes have been informed by BDUK’s rolling Open Market Review process, which provides an up‑to‑date view of commercial and subsidised build and helps ensure public funding is targeted only where needed and delivers value for money for taxpayers.

Simon Holden, CityFibre’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are immensely proud of CityFibre’s involvement in Project Gigabit, an ambitious programme that has helped unlock the benefits of full fibre infrastructure for households and businesses previously at risk of being left behind. BDUK’s commitment has helped spur further investment and continued innovation and the time is right to focus on where we will have the biggest impact as we establish the competitive digital infrastructure market the UK deserves.”

Liz Lloyd, telecoms minister, said: “Over the past 18 months, this government has delivered upgrades to more than 229,000 hard-to-reach premises across the country. Our reforms to the telecoms market have unlocked a surge in commercial broadband rollout, meaning many areas previously in scope for CityFibre’s Project Gigabit contracts will now be upgraded without cost to taxpayers.

“We welcome CityFibre’s progress to date and remain fully committed to supporting communities still struggling with slow broadband. That’s why we are already in discussions with other suppliers to ensure remaining premises receive upgrades as soon as possible, and these changes will not affect our target of reaching 99% gigabit coverage by 2032.”

CityFibre will continue to connect premises through Project Gigabit funding and additional commercial rollout across its nine, awarded Project Gigabit lots:

• Cambridgeshire
• Norfolk
• Suffolk
• Hampshire
• Leicestershire and Warwickshire
• East and West Sussex
• Kent
• Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes
• East Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire

As part of this re‑scoping, CityFibre will return a Project Gigabit contract for Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire, taken on as part of its acquisition of Connexin’s full fibre infrastructure in 2025¹.

As CityFibre rolls out, its wholesale 10Gb XGS-PON network enables a choice of over 30 market-leading broadband providers, including household names such as Sky, Vodafone and TalkTalk, alongside award-winning providers such as 4th Utility, toob and Zen. Local businesses also benefit from multi-gig speeds and rapid fix times, with even faster speeds and a choice of install points to come.

ENDS

Notes to editors

¹ Choice at last- CityFibre brings 30+ ISPs to Hull (November, 2025)

The number of subsidised premises delivered by CityFibre is based on BDUK’s May 2026 contract-level data. The number of premises already delivered commercially or in future commercial plans is based on CityFibre’s own commercial data. The number of subsidised premises expected to be delivered is consistent with the re-scoped contract information published on Gov.uk.

The figure of 229,000 premises receiving gigabit-capable broadband coverage as a result of Building Digital UK (BDUK) subsidy is an estimate based on BDUK Delivery Performance Quarterly covering 1 October 2024 to 31 December 2025. This information is published quarterly here.