CityFibre has successfully connected its first customers in Buckinghamshire through a fibre network rollout funded by Project Gigabit, highlighting a rare success amid a string of recent setbacks within the government-backed broadband initiative.
The new connections were established in Newton Longville, a small parish with under 2,000 residents. While CityFibre did not reveal how many customers were connected, it shared an example of a resident who needed fast, reliable broadband to support remote consultancy work. Though modest in scale, the deployment is a promising sign that some Project Gigabit efforts remain on track.
This local rollout is part of a larger £58.7 million government contract awarded to CityFibre in early 2024 to bring full-fibre broadband to 34,000 homes and businesses across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and East Berkshire. The company is also contributing its own investment to support the project. That financial commitment may explain why CityFibre continues to make progress while other firms are stalling.
In contrast, several smaller broadband providers have withdrawn from their Project Gigabit contracts. Most recently, Freedom Fibre pulled out of a £24 million deal to reach 12,000 premises, having completed fewer than 3,500. BDUK, the government body overseeing Project Gigabit, is now seeking alternative providers for the remainder of that work.
This follows a pattern: Freedom Fibre also exited a £43.1 million contract in Cheshire earlier this year, and other providers like FullFibre and Voneus have also abandoned multi-million-pound contracts. In each case, BDUK has promised to find replacements, but updates have been scarce.
With limited transparency from the government and ongoing market challenges, the long-term viability of Project Gigabit appears increasingly dependent on larger, better-funded players like CityFibre and Openreach.