Vodafone widens UK broadband footprint with capacity deals

Vodafone has stepped up its push into the UK broadband market after striking new deals with BT’s Openreach and challenger network CityFibre that hand the group the largest ultrafast broadband footprint in the country. The deals mean Vodafone will be able to offer the high-speed broadband product to 8 million homes by spring 2022 at steep discounts as it looks to grow its share of the market. The UK company is Europe’s largest broadband provider, with more than 25 million customers after acquiring cable networks in markets including Germany and Spain. Yet it does not own a residential fixed-line network in its home market and instead leases capacity from its rivals. “A couple of years back we were new to broadband but by spring we will have the widest fibre-to-the-premises footprint in the UK,” Ahmed Essam, chief executive of Vodafone UK. Essam said that not owning a broadband network in the UK has meant Vodafone could play the field and expand its reach. “BT will always sell on BT. Virgin Media will always sell on Virgin Media,” he said of his main rivals. He said he remained open to a deal with Virgin Media O2, or other network builders, to expand its capacity further.