21581 - SCTE Broadband August2022 COMPLETE v1

32 Vol. 44 No. 3 - September 2022 Issue Simon Holden, Group Chief Operating Officer at CityFibre chats to Broadband Journal about the company’s achievements, its novel approach to staff retention and its technical and commercial vision for the 2030s. CityFibre Congratulations on your recent FTTH Operator Award, you must be delighted. Not the first time CityFibre have been recognised for their achievements, you’re obviously very good at what you do. What is CityFibre doing that you think that sets the company apart? CityFibre has existed for 11 years now, much longer than some people realise. During that time, we have learned an enormous amount about designing citywide networks, about scaling our build and about collaborating with a wide range of partners. This foundation has allowed us to grow at an extraordinary pace and to deploy networks at scale that deliver our customers, and theirs, a radically improved service experience. What’s the latest state of play? We’re now fully financed to roll out to 8m homes across 285 cities towns and villages and we’re fast approaching 2m premises passed. We’ve also become the preferred network supplier to over 30 ISPs and MNOs, including Vodafone, TalkTalk, Zen and Three. That’s quite something considering you’re only just past the 10-year mark and you have such competition in the market. What’s your secret? Our carrier-neutral wholesale model is introducing infrastructure choice to communication providers for the first time – and choosing a faster, more reliable and more economically attractive network is an easy choice to make! Arguably the emergence of altnets has changed the landscape decisively and for the better. How much of CityFibre’s success do you put down to good timing and spotting a great opportunity? A full fibre future for the UK has always been inevitable and from the day we were founded, we have pursued a fibre- only strategy while the incumbents held on to the belief that copper would be good enough. Gradually we have seen them respond to the competitive threat that fibre builders like CityFibre represent. By Melissa Cogavin, Managing Editor, SCTE Unplugged from the industry Simon Holden, COO, CityFibre