The Ultimate Guide to CityFibre

CityFibre is new in town. Well, lots of towns. And cities – most cities, in fact. And it’s continuing to grow, at an incredible rate.

What is CityFibre?

There are many established wholesale providers of fibre network infrastructure, but CityFibre has burst onto the scene and swiftly become the largest ‘alternative’ provider of full fibre.

The company’s aim? To completely transform and future-proof the UK's digital infrastructure. A big task, but one that is already in full swing...

“CityFibre is the UK’s largest alternative provider of wholesale fibre network infrastructure and the builder of Gigabit Cities”

Privately owned by a consortium of Antin Infrastructure Partners and West Street Infrastructure Partners, London-based CityFibre has rapidly spread throughout the UK.

The Fibre optic network builder is making significant investment in areas throughout the country, which has already resulted in a range of major fibre infrastructure projects progressing across 51 UK towns and cities.

CityFibre infrastructure currently covers:

280,000 businesses
7800 cell sites
28,000 public sector sites
Four million homes
Over 100 data centres

CityFibre recently partnered with Vodafone to realise the next step in its monumental journey – to deliver ultrafast Gigabit-capable ‘full fibre’ connectivity to one million UK homes and businesses. The target is to achieve this by 2021, with the plan to then extend to five million homes and businesses by 2025.

What is full fibre?

You’ll probably know ‘full fibre’ as FTTP (fibre to the premises).

One and the same, full fibre describes an internet connection consisting entirely of a fibre optic cable – from the exchange all the way to the premises. This is as opposed to the less powerful FTTC (fibre to the cabinet), which uses traditional copper cabling for the last leg of the journey. FTTC can still deliver impressive speeds, but not up to 1Gbps impressive.

“Full fibre is the ‘gold standard’ in connectivity.”

With full fibre, tasks such as remote backups, data-heavy cloud processes and VoIP will be a walk in the park. No slow loading, no poor quality video calls, nothing but a seamless, high-quality connection that’s capable of matching any online requirement. Full fibre is basically the ‘gold standard’ in connectivity – for speed, for almost unlimited bandwidth, and for unmatched reliability.

CityFibre Gigabit Cities

What does CityFibre offer?

Businesses have increasingly high bandwidth expectations, and CityFibre is rising to these demands – and then some. For companies with substantial online activity (so, most modern operations), the new provider is offering the opportunity to transform the way work is done online through connecting to their advanced digital network.

For business, CityFibre offers a range of active and dark fibre (unused optical fibre) services.

Business FTTP

Symmetrical, gigabit-speed ethernet – full fibre, business-grade broadband to the premises.

Business FTTP is ideal for small businesses that may want to migrate from legacy ISDN to a single product capable of delivering all services over IP, as well as providing LAN/inter-office capability.

Key features:

Full fibre, gigabit-capable symmetrical connection
Available across CityFibre’s purpose-built GPON network
QoS for faultless VoIP services
Business-grade repair SLA

Dark fibre

CityFibre’s UK-wide network of metro and long-distance dark fibre – a dedicated, unlit optical fibre path between two locations. The nature of these dark fibre lines means bespoke connectivity packages can be created to suit your business model.

Also available:

CityFibre Business Internet Services

Affordable, high-performance enterprise-grade full fibre connections. Available at 500Mbps or 1Gbps.

CityFibre Ethernet Services

A range of quality ethernet products ideal for connectivity between sites. These ethernet services boast the latest optical technologies and are delivered across an independent fibre infrastructure.

Key features:

100Mbps, 1Gbps and 10Gbps bandwidth options
99.9% network availability SLA
MEF aligned
Competitive pricing

Why is CityFibre different?

What exactly makes CityFibre different from other providers? Or as the company calls itself, ‘alternative’?

For a start, CityFibre’s full fibre and duct network is purpose built. And it’s independent from any other infrastructure providers. These two key benefits mean guaranteed resilience and, it offers a more agile option compared to existing providers.

“A network fit for the future – with the potential to support every business with unlimited capacity.”

To support that resilience, a unique aspect of CityFibre’s architecture is that it’s ring-based – a flexible yet robust design that equals no unnecessary exchange routing.

Diverse inter-city connections
Carrier-neutral facilities
Independent PoP locations
Carrier-class network resilience
Proven reliability record

CityFibre says that their growing network is not only fit for the future, but it has the potential to support every home, business, school, mobile and public site – with unlimited capacity. The extensive methodology behind the planning and structuring of the networks was designed so that the combined architecture can serve all market verticals in the long term.

Further independence and flexibility come from CityFibre’s status as an unregulated alt-net provider. This allows the fibre optic network builder to offer a wide range of bespoke services and product options.

CityFibre full fibre

The CityFibre Network

The complex, extensive and ever-growing CityFibre network consists of an LDN (long-distance network) and metro networks.

CityFibre currently has 42 metro footprints across the UK – presence in more than 60 towns and cities. As well as the planned expansions, the network builders are open to considering other extensions based on demand.

The LDN connects many of these networks to peering points in major UK cities – London, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. 90 data centres are also covered by this expansive network.

How CityFibre is making a difference

Regardless of what sector you’re business operates in, chances are you’re pretty reliant on a good internet connection for a range of your day-to-day activities.

“Every Gigabit City provides state-of-the-art digital infrastructure capable of meeting data connectivity and communication needs for decades to come.”

CityFibre has already made a remarkable impact throughout UK towns and cities in a vast array of sectors. From enabling improved service delivery in the public sector, to making cloud and VoIP services much more accessible and affordable for start-ups and small businesses.

For one reason or another, almost every sector is demanding faster speeds, and more reliable, powerful connectivity. CityFibre is fulfilling these needs and preparing for how they’ll grow and evolve.

CityFibre – Builder of Gigabit cities

How to get CityFibre

Some products are available directly from CityFibre, such as a selection of their ethernet services, but most can be acquired through partners and official resellers. CityFibre delivers the majority of its services via these avenues largely because of the many advantages it brings to businesses looking to join the Gigabit revolution.

For instance, partners not only have an in-built knowledge of the technology and its capabilities and intricacies, they also have an established relationship with CityFibre. This means partners are best placed to get the most valuable deals at the best possible prices. These benefits can be passed on to your business, in the form of a tailored package to meet your particular needs.

Your CityFibre connection – direct from Amvia

Amvia is a market-leading provider of full fibre packages. As well as ensuring you get the most cost-effective and high-quality CityFibre connection, we can advise and guide you through the whole process – from product comparison to installation, and beyond.

We’re renowned for our exceptional levels of customer service, which comes from not only making sure your every need is catered for in a timely and professional manner but through our relationships with providers like CityFibre.

“With Amvia as your trusted partner, you can choose from CityFibre’s top connection services.”

Ideal for a range of business sizes and distinctions, we offer CityFibre through powerful leased line packages in the form of GPON (Gigabit passive optical networks) and ethernet.

As well as the various uncontented ethernet options, you can choose from either 500MB or 1GB contented GPON connectivity. A highly cost-effective form of full-fibre, GPON offers an impressive mix of exceptionally high speeds at competitive prices, while retaining critical reliability.

Would GPON be best for your business? There are many reasons why it might be, with benefits including:

unlimited usage
no upgrade charges and downtime when accessing up to Gigabit speeds
comprehensive service level agreement
rapid return to service guarantee
24/7 UK support from technical specialists

Speak to one of our advisors and they’ll be able to help you decide which option is best suited to your business. And then, we can tailor the service to perfectly match your requirements.

And remember, we’re dealing with Gigabit technology through dedicated lines – superfast speeds and the most reliable connectivity. So, whichever option you choose, there’s no chance of sacrificing quality, regardless of your needs.

Amvia’s expertise and customer care + CityFibre’s revolutionary full fibre network capabilities. There’s no better way to get Gigabit levels of connectivity to empower your business.