CityFibre Business Broadband Deals & Reviews (2026)
CityFibre is not a broadband provider. It is a wholesale full-fibre network that other providers sell over. If CityFibre has built in your postcode, you do not buy from CityFibre. You buy from an internet provider who runs their service on that fibre.
We don’t currently feature CityFibre on our comparison panel, but you can compare highly rated, cost-effective alternatives from providers like Virgin Media Business and BT Business below.
As CityFibre is not a broadband provider, it matters to know this when comparing providers. The network decides your speed, your upload speed, and how fast a fault gets fixed in the ground. The provider decides your price, your contract and who picks up the phone when something breaks.
Introducing CityFibre Business
CityFibre was founded in 2011 and is based in London. It describes itself as the UK's largest fibre-only, open access network. Open access means any provider can sell over it, in the same way they can over Openreach.
The network is entirely separate from Openreach. CityFibre has laid its own ducts, its own fibre and its own exchanges. There is no copper anywhere in the run, which is why upload speeds match download speeds.
By June 2026, the network had passed almost five million premises and had over one million connected. Build is live in more than 60 cities and towns. The longer-term target is up to eight million homes and 800,000 businesses, plus 450,000 harder-to-reach premises across nine Project Gigabit contract areas. The fibre itself can carry symmetrical speeds of up to 8.5Gbps, though what you can actually order depends on your provider.
CityFibre is owned by a group of infrastructure investors, including Antin Infrastructure Partners, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Mubadala and Interogo Holding.
CityFibre Business Broadband Reviews
CityFibre holds a Trustpilot score of 4.7 out of 5, rated Excellent, from just over 26,000 reviews.
Read that score for what it is. CityFibre does not bill you and does not run your broadband. Those reviews are almost entirely about installation, because that is the only part of the process where you meet CityFibre. Reviewers consistently praise engineers for turning up on time, explaining the work and leaving the place tidy.
The complaints follow a pattern too. Installs slipping by weeks, and difficulty getting an update because you are dealing with your provider rather than CityFibre directly.
So use the score to judge the build quality, then check your chosen provider's reviews separately. That is the score that tells you what your service will be like once the fibre is in.
Is CityFibre Any Good for Business?
CityFibre suits businesses in a covered postcode that need real upload speed without paying leased line prices. If your team runs VoIP handsets, backs up to the cloud, spends all day on video calls, or sends large files, symmetrical fibre changes how the connection feels.
What works well
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Full fibre all the way to the premises, with no copper in the final run
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Symmetrical speeds, so your upload matches your download
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Completely independent of Openreach, so an Openreach fault does not take your line down
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Business Ethernet comes with a five-hour critical repair SLA as standard
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24/7 UK-based network monitoring behind whichever provider you buy from
What to watch
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Coverage is postcode by postcode. Plenty of business parks and industrial estates are not built yet
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You cannot buy direct, so your experience still depends on the provider you pick
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Fewer providers sell over CityFibre than over Openreach, so there is less price competition on some streets
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Where new fibre needs pulling into the building, installation can take longer than a straight Openreach switch
CityFibre Business Packages Explained
CityFibre builds two things for business. Shared full fibre broadband and dedicated Ethernet. Your provider packages and prices them, so the names on your quote will be theirs, not CityFibre's.
|
Speeds |
Up to 1,000Mbps | Symmetric, up to 1Gbps |
|
Line type |
Shared full fibre | Dedicated and uncontended |
|
Repair |
Business-grade repair target | Five-hour critical repair SLA |
|
Monitoring |
24/7 UK-based | 24/7 UK-based |
|
Voice |
QoS to protect VoIP call quality | QoS available |
|
Usage |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
|
Best for |
Small offices, shops, home workers |
Multi-site, heavy cloud use, guaranteed fix times |
CityFibre does not publish business prices, because it does not sell to businesses. Two providers on the same CityFibre line can quote very different monthly costs for the same speed. That is why the comparison is worth doing.
If you are weighing shared fibre against a dedicated line, our guide on leased line vs broadband explains where the extra cost is justified.
Need help deciding?
Call our experts to find out what you really need for your business.
Free call on 01204 471180
Which Providers Sell CityFibre Business Broadband?
CityFibre works with more than 30 service providers. On the business side, its named partners include Vodafone, Daisy, Spitfire, Onecom, Windsor Telecom, Redcentric, Virtual1, Neos Networks, Gigabit Networks and Zayo. Zen Internet also sells across the full CityFibre footprint, having extended its partnership in 2022.
Some of them are on our comparison panel.
- Vodafone Business: Sells over both Openreach and CityFibre, so it can usually quote whichever network reaches your building. Pro II packages add automatic 4G backup.
- Daisy Communications: A named CityFibre business partner, with 24/7 UK support and DDoS protection included.
The fibre in the ground is identical whichever you choose. What changes is the price, the contract length, the router and who answers when you ring. Compare the provider, not the network.
CityFibre vs Openreach for Business
These are two separate networks. CityFibre does not use Openreach infrastructure at any point, and Openreach does not use CityFibre's: different ducts, different fibre, different exchanges.
- Coverage: CityFibre covers almost 5 million premises in over 60 cities and towns. Openreach is nationwide.
- Tech: Openreach has a range of connection options, including full fibre and fibre to the cabinet, and CityFibre is full fibre only.
- Upload: CityFibre is considered symmetrical across all packages unlike Openreach.
- Providers: Openreach has hundreds more providers vs CityFibre.
In practice, check both. Where CityFibre has built, you often get better upload for the same money, and you are not sharing a fault queue with every other business on the street. Where it has not, Openreach full fibre is the fallback, and it reaches almost everywhere.
If the terminology is getting in the way, our guide to the difference between FTTC and FTTP explains what you are actually buying.
CityFibre vs. The Alternatives
Virgin runs its own network too, so it is another way to avoid Openreach. Download speeds are strong, but upload is lower than CityFibre on most business packages.
A leased line is the best connection available. If an hour offline costs you real money, shared broadband is the wrong product, whichever network it runs on. A leased line gives you a dedicated connection with an uptime guarantee and a contractual fix time.
CityFibre Business Broadband FAQs
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Does CityFibre use Openreach?
No. CityFibre has built its own network from scratch, with its own ducts, fibre and exchanges. An Openreach outage does not affect a CityFibre line, and the reverse is also true.
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Can I buy broadband directly from CityFibre?
No. CityFibre is wholesale only. It builds and maintains the fibre, then sells access to service providers who package it and sell it to you.
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How much does CityFibre cost per month for a business?
CityFibre does not set or publish a business price. Your provider does. Two providers can quote very different monthly costs for the same speed on the same line, so it is worth comparing before you sign.
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Is CityFibre available at my business address?
Coverage is postcode by postcode. The network passes almost five million premises across more than 60 cities and towns, and is still being built. The quickest way to find out is to run a comparison and see which networks return a quote for your address.
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Do I still need a phone line with CityFibre?
No. Full fibre is a data connection, so there is no analogue line underneath it. Business phones run over the internet instead. The PSTN switch-off is ending traditional lines anyway, so most businesses are making this move regardless.
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What happens if my CityFibre connection goes down?
It depends on which product you are on. Standard business broadband is repaired to a business-grade target rather than a guaranteed clock. Ethernet carries a five-hour critical repair SLA as standard, with 24/7 UK-based monitoring behind it.
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