Broadband ISP Zen Internet has furnished ISPreview with a small update on their efforts to make their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband packages available – nationwide – across CityFibre’s entire UK network, which was previously due to complete at the end of 2023.
Just to recap. Back in March 2022 we reported that Zen Internet had decided to expand their relationship with CityFibre by making an exclusive long-term volume commitment across the operator’s entire network (here). As part of that, the ISP said they expected their services would be “available to all homes across the entire CityFibre footprint by late 2022.”
However, when we last checked up on Zen’s progress at the end of 2022, the ISP informed us that “48 out of 59 phase 1 cities” were already live and they “expected that connectivity to a further 34 cities as part of our phase 2 plans will be delivered by the end of 2023” (here).
The provider has continued to make progress on their CityFibre expansion since then, which this month went live in Worcester and a few other places (locations that were on their phase 2 list). Suffice to say that we were keen to find out how close the ISP is to completion of this somewhat delayed project, although they declined to give any specifics about how many locations they’ve activated or precisely when the programme might complete.
David Barber, Strategy Director for Zen Internet, said:
“We continue our nationwide rollout of FTTP over the CityFibre network. We are currently offering services to over 80% of the RFS (ready for service) homes on the network and plan to expand this offering throughout 2024.”
The provider recommended that any prospective customers use the postcode availability checker on their website to check up on coverage. Quite why it’s taking Zen so much longer than originally anticipated to complete this expansion is unclear, although to be fair CityFibre has added a number of new locations since the last update. Likewise, onboarding new areas isn’t always a quick or simple task.
Tyler Fields is your internet guru, delving into the latest trends, developments, and issues shaping the online world. With a focus on internet culture, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies, Tyler keeps readers informed about the dynamic landscape of the internet and its impact on our digital lives.
