CityFibre, Vodafone trial 2Gb/s services

UK independent provider, CityFibre has successfully completed a trial of 2Gb/s residential services in York with its launch partner Vodafone. 

The trial was made possible due to CityFibre’s recent upgrade of its York network to XGS-PON access technology, which is due to be rolled out as standard across its network from April. The company aims for the 2Gb/s service to pave the way for the introduction of residential and business services at symmetrical speeds of up to 10Gb/s across its entire footprint in the future.

Working closely with Vodafone, the trial saw selected end-customers in York able to access symmetrical speeds of up to 2Gb/s, twice the speed of the fastest services widely available on CityFibre’s network. The new services were delivered using the Vodafone Pro II Broadband service and the new Vodafone Ultra Hub and Super WiFi6E Booster bundle. 

Last summer, CityFibre successfully upgraded its first city network from G-PON to XGS-PON technology. The XGS-PON upgrade was designed to enable almost 10 times the capability of its existing G-PON based architecture. XGS-PON also enables the provider to continually upgrade its network while also supporting more customers on each OLT port, creating substantial cost savings, optimising power consumption, and improving the efficiency of its network expansion. 

Michael Greening, Product Director at CityFibre, says: “After a successful trial, we’re a major step closer to bringing multi-gig full fibre services to millions of homes and businesses across the country. But at 2Gb/s, we’re barely scratching the surface of our network’s capabilities. Thanks to our XGS-PON upgrade programme, we’ll be able to offer symmetrical speeds of up to 10Gb/s in the future, further evidence that not all full fibre networks are created equal.”

Max Taylor, Chief Commercial Officer at Vodafone UK, adds: “We’re the biggest full fibre broadband provider in the UK and recording our fastest ever home WiFi speed showcases the true capability of the technology and our Pro II Broadband. With the UK’s fastest router, we’re all set to handle the next exciting developments, so our customers always get the fastest broadband speeds possible, in all corners of their home at a great price.”