• UK fibre broadband altnet Community Fibre has been focusing more on building its customer base and less on network expansion for the past year or so
• That focus appears to be paying off, with its customer base growing by 33% over the past 12 months

We’ve reported a few times this year about how Netomnia looks like it’s on course to be one of the long-term survivors in the UK fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) sector thanks to its ongoing growth and financial support from lenders. But another UK FTTP altnet that increasingly looks like it has the momentum to help it last the distance is Community Fibre, which has focused its fibre access network rollout efforts on London and the surrounding areas and now reaches 1.3 million premises across the region. 

The operator says it has now connected more than 400,000 homes and businesses across the UK capital to its XGS-PON fibre network, a 33% increase in the past year. That 400,000 number means it has a penetration rate of 30%, which it claims is the best among the UK’s major fibre altnets. It claims to have experienced “strong adoption of its high-speed products, with the majority of its customers on speeds of 1Gbit/s or above, as well as an increased take-up of its 5Gbit/s and 2.5Gbit/s products”.

Community Fibre claims to have been EBITDA positive since April 2024 and is on course to report EBITDA of £70m for the full year 2025, “supported by customer growth and ongoing efficiency improvements in our cost base”. Those efficiencies have included a slowdown in the pace at which it has been building out its network – it has been focusing more on growing its customer base.

Its finances are also set to be improved by a new wholesale agreement with VodafoneThree, which is seeking to grow its fixed broadband subscriber base in the London area by piggybacking on Community Fibre’s network to offer its own branded broadband services. “With Community Fibre’s network providing symmetrical speeds of up to 2.5Gbit/s in London, the partnership will significantly enhance Vodafone’s current broadband proposition in the capital,” VodafoneThree noted in June.

And like Netomnia, the operator continues to have the support of the financial community: In October 2024, Community Fibre raised £125m via a new finance facility put together by JP Morgan, Barclays, LBBW, SIMCo (Sequoia Investment Management Company) and Alpha Bank, bringing the total investment in the company to £1.1bn. Community Fibre’s main equity investors are Warburg Pincus and DTCP (Digital Transformation Capital Partners – formerly Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners).

Commenting on the latest growth numbers, Community Fibre CEO Graeme Oxby stated: “Our relentless focus on network and sales excellence, lean operations and industry-leading service is the foundation for sustainable success in the altnet market. Community Fibre continues to prove that new broadband competition can not only be financially sustainable in the long run, it can also deliver meaningful advantages to UK society.”

The altent is also branching out into new service areas, and taking advantage of emerging new communications service opportunities, as it gains scale: In late August it launched an international data roaming eSIM that offers travellers the chance to avoid data roaming charges in more than 160 countries, with its eSIM prices starting from just £2.29. 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV