Vodafone will offer ultra-fast broadband to millions of people

Vodafone has signed new deals with CityFibre and BT Openreach which will make it the largest ultrafast broadband provider in the UK.

The telecommunications giant does not have its own landline and instead rents from other companies.

Eight million UK residents will have access to its service by spring 2022.

Analysts say the move should be good for consumers as other vendors push for a similar reach.

Vodafone first partnered with CityFibre in 2017, in a deal believed to be worth around £ 500m.

The “alt-network” is the largest company outside the major telecommunications giants to have installed fiber in the UK in recent years, with around 50 internet providers currently using its infrastructure.

The deal with Vodaphone will support CityFibre’s commitment to reach 285 cities, towns and villages by 2025 in the UK.

“A couple of years ago we were new to broadband, but by spring we will have the largest fiber optic footprint in the UK,” Ahmed Essam, chief executive of Vodafone UK, told the Financial Times.

Mr. Essam said that by not owning its own landline, the company was free to expand its reach at a faster rate than would otherwise have been possible.

“BT will always sell on BT. Virgin Media will always sell on Virgin Media,” he said of its main rivals.

Mark Jackson, editor of ISPreview, told the BBC that the move is likely to have a positive impact on consumers.

“Fundamentally, this change isn’t unique to Vodafone, with CityFibre looking to provide a similar level of coverage nationwide to other ISPs.

“We expect people like TalkTalk, for example, to follow suit in the near future. For consumers, this simply means a greater degree of choice, which is often faster and cheaper than what they had access to before. What.” , he added.