Abu Dhabi and foundation linked to Ikea invest in full fibre broadband

The Government of Abu Dhabi and a foundation linked to furniture giant Ikea have thrown £825 million at an effort to roll out full-fibre broadband in the UK.

CityFibre said that it had secured more than £1.1 billion to invest, including £300 million worth of new loans.

It is money that will help the company reach into a third of UK homes by the middle of the decade, it said on Thursday.

Investors include Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, the Mubadala Investment Company, and Interogo Holding – which is owned by a foundation set up to “safeguard the IKEA Concept”.

“This new capital will not only underpin our rollout to up to eight million homes across 285 cities, towns and villages, but will also enable our participation in the Government’s Project Gigabit programme to extend our future-proof infrastructure to rural areas and ensure no one is left behind,” said the CityFibre chief executive, Greg Mesch.

“If nurtured and protected, infrastructure competition at scale will continue to unleash huge investment from the private sector as well as catalyse investment from incumbent operators.”

CityFibre’s network is used by Vodafone and TalkTalk among other internet providers. It is live in 46 places around the UK.

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said: “The Government is committed to making high-speed broadband available for every part of the UK, and this exciting investment will turbocharge the UK’s full-fibre rollout. It will revolutionise people’s lives and generate huge economic benefits, jobs and growth.

“The UK is open for business and attracting investments like this as a high-value, high-growth science superpower, specialising in industries of the future.”