The alternative fibre network provider is to connect an additional 1,300 mobile sites across 59 towns and cities.
Under an agreement announced earlier this year, CityFibre became a preferred provider of backhaul connectivity outside London for Three and has already supported the rollout of 5G at more than 100 locations across the country.
This latest deal will more than triple Three’s initial commitment and will see CityFibre’s Full Fibre infrastructure continue to underpin its national 5G rollout.
Alignment
The two say that the deepening partnership sees Three and CityFibre “further align on their rollout plans,” [and that] “this will help to increase the speed and efficiency of each deployment, providing a high quality 5G service across CityFibre’s Gigabit City projects and delivering an improved network experience for Three’s customers”.
The partnership will also mean Three has access to small cell access points throughout each of CityFibre’s dense city-wide networks.
This will ensure it has the capacity to support the expected heavy demand of 5G services in urban areas.
Progress
Most of the locations identified for Three’s 5G rollout are progressing well and CityFibre is ramping up to deliver before the end of 2020.
Susan Buttsworth, COO at Three UK said, “We are increasing investment across our network to meet the ever increasing demand for data by UK consumers. Fibre backhaul is a vital part of a reliable network experience and this investment will mean better connectivity for our customers across the UK.”