Ultra Fibre Optic broadband network to go citywide in York

Ultra Fibre Optic (UFO) broadband suppliers CityFibre, Sky and TalkTalk have agreed to roll out the service across the city following successful pilots across some York neighbourhoods.

The UFO network was set up as a joint venture partnership in 2015 to test the viability of large-scale FTTP roll-outs in urban areas. To date, it has passed 14,000 properties around York, with more than 2,400 customers signing up to the service.

The partners said that, so far, build costs were under budget, while customer take-up and satisfaction were ahead of target.

Because of this early success, work will begin next spring to expand the programme to cover 40,000 more premises over 18 months. This will encompass most homes and businesses in York.

At the same time, Sky will exit the project, with TalkTalk acquiring its equity and Sky becoming a wholesale customer. CityFibre will remain on board as a shareholder.

“We are very pleased with the success of UFO in York so far,” commented TalkTalk’s general manager of ultrafast, Richard Sinclair. “Our customers are amazed at what they can do with their ultrafast connections – streaming HD TV without buffering, playing games in real time with people on the other side of the world, or simply enabling every member of the family to be online at the same time. We are very excited to be extending our roll-out.”