Sky and TalkTalk’s Fiber Plans for UK Challenge BT’s Dominance

British Sky Broadcasting Group and TalkTalk Telecom Group formed a joint venture to create a high-speed broadband network in York, England, as the companies look for alternatives to BT Group Plc.

The two companies have partnered with CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings Plc, which already has fiber in the city, and will work with Fujitsu Ltd. to offer speeds of 1 gigabit per second starting next year, BSkyB and TalkTalk said in a statement today. That’s more than three times faster than the speeds offered by BT’s Openreach network. The venture said it may add another two cities “in due course.” The partnership may take market share from BT or force the U.K.’s biggest fixed-line company to cut wholesale pricing if it’s extended to other parts of Britain, Espirito Santo analyst Robert Grindle said