Cityfibre Share Discussion Threads

[rambutan2] 09/10/2015 16:33

It's the debt package that I've been waiting to hear about, news of which due soon(ish). Once clear that capital not an issue (and cheap) then really should be away to the races. Shortly after listing I remember the boss saying that they are pre-qualified for debt guarantees from HM Treasury’s Infrastructure UK’s Guarantees Scheme.

[edwardt] 09/10/2015 14:16

has to be related to the bt open reach saga of will they, won't they split. the noises from the regulator are that they favour keeping it together so the business plan here could accelerate massively if Vodafone, sky et al throw their weight behind it properly? I rarely get excited but aishah you could be right!

[aishah] 09/10/2015 12:06

Could be another COLT in the making which marked time early on and then went-up 10 fold! Story getting better and better every month here. imo.

[oregano] 09/10/2015 11:51

we should get newsflow from the Sky / TalkTalk JV in York soon also.

[edwardt] 09/10/2015 11:47

market loving this - I have had trouble even doing a small top up over the last week.

[aishah] 07/10/2015 10:49

From the FT article:


Analyst Liberum said that CityFibre was expected to build up a partnership with both Vodafone and Three in a number of cities in future, which it said would “further enhance its high growth revenue outlook”.

Liberum added that even if Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, opened up BT Openreach’s network, “Vodafone will try to limit its business dealings with a direct competitor, preferring to deal with independent alternatives such as CityFibre”.

It added that corporate connectivity could be a key part of the deal, as well as linking mast sites.

[aishah] 07/10/2015 10:29

Liberium reiterate BUY and 114p target

[pentangle] 07/10/2015 08:18

There was a nice FT article on the Vodafone deal. The link would not work but you can Google for it.

[teleprompter] 07/10/2015 08:01

We do not know the nitty gritty of the terms, yet, EdwardT. But if this is akin to the aforementioned Hull deal CityFibre (CF) provide in effect a lease on the dark fibre - commissioned in this case by the mobile network operators MNBL (with 3UK and EE). The dark fibre will meet the demands of the new technology for the mobile operators who will naturally tariff subscribers according to demand – or utilisation rate, if you like. The cash flow in this case is two instalments received by CF of a total £3.6m, most received over the initial 18 months.

The fibre capacity is upgradeable and it is a simple matter to lay new fibre cables in the pre-installed sub-ducts. Once the contract (lease) period ends then terms for continuance will, of course, be negotiated with CF. The fibre capacity is upgradeable and it is a simple matter to lay new fibre cables in the sub-ducts. A sub-duct has the potential to carry over thousand fibre strand cable, meaning that fibre capacity can be substantially upgraded. One imagines therefore that Vodafone will specify sufficient capacity to meet estimated demand well into the future.

To me the keynote of the Vodafone agreement is the new dimension of opportunity for CF. It is stated to be a master services agreement with a national mobile operator. Greg Mesch (CEO) says “CityFibre has now secured trading relationships with the majority of Tier 1 service providers in the business and mobile connectivity markets." It elevates CF status as a serious player and will, no doubt, also enhance its progress with its existing pipeline of Gigabit cities.

[edwardt] 06/10/2015 16:53

telepromper - you seem to know what you are talking about here. for me the Vodafone contract in York strikes me as a particularly good deal as cityfibre have done the capex spend and in essence are going to get more cashflow out from higher utilisation rates of the existing fibre. does that in simplistic terms make sense?

[oregano] 06/10/2015 10:19

by CFHL's standards, a bit of volume being traded, so interest clearly picking up.

[teleprompter] 06/10/2015 09:00

Market may just, ever so slowly, become truly aware of the implications of the Vodafone agreement. This puts CityFibre firmly on the central flight path as the provision of backhaul for mobile operators will be an essential element in meeting with the bandwidth demands of 4G. The Hull deal provides an illustration of the potential. With an average of some 200 base stations available in each Gigabit city the potential for upgrade by deploying darkfibre 4G is considerable. Using Hull as a model the income is accrued over a 15 b year contract life. It will be interesting to see if the market attribute a capital value to this revenue stream.

[oregano] 06/10/2015 08:59

yet more contract wins with little additional cost. showing the strength of the model.

[oregano] 02/10/2015 13:54

moving up on pretty skinny volume. but implies there is no overhang. given the progress made over the last year it will be interesting to see if there is any director buying. there was ten months ago at around this level.

[aishah] 02/10/2015 11:01

CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings (CFHL)
In take-off mode

CityFibre (CFHL) has reported a 115% y-o-y increase in revenue and gains in its gross margin, showing the benefit of the rapid rollout of its fibre-optic networks and strong service demand. We highly rate CFHL’s attractive risk-minimising rollout strategy, whereby they first secure a long-term anchor tenant before any network build, and think that the company is set to emerge strongly into profit in future years. Our only major concern is if Ofcom carries out its current proposal to open BT’s dark fibre network and sets the access prices too low. Positively, Ofcom does appear to be aware of the risk to the sector, having rejected a similar proposal in 2012, due to the likely damage to competitors and the market.

[aishah] 01/10/2015 14:12

UK Needs Fiber Infrastructure Rivalry – CityFibre

MUNICH -- Gigibit Europe -- Fiber network investor CityFibre says the UK needs to avoid over-reliance on fixed-line incumbent BT if its nascent gigabit market is to flourish in the years ahead.

CityFibre is keen to establish itself as an infrastructure rival to BT and is currently building fiber networks in a number of UK cities and towns.

The operator -- which is currently involved in eight gigabit projects but aims to increase this number to 100 over the next decade -- has been a fierce critic of the broadband situation in the UK, where BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) remains the only infrastructure player with a nationwide presence.

Speaking at Light Reading's Gigabit Europe event in Munich earlier Tuesday, Mark Collins, CityFibre's director of strategy and public affairs, said that infrastructure competition is needed if the UK is to make improvements to the availability and penetration of high-speed broadband services.

"The UK is not even on the league table for fiber-connected premises in Europe," he said. "Often it is the challenger networks that bring real choice and competition and can shake up the status quo quite a bit."

Unlike BT, CityFibre does not provide its own retail services, instead offering dark fiber infrastructure on which retail partners can launch their own broadband products.

The operator seeks to minimize the risks associated with investing in fiber infrastructure by securing commitments from customers before it starts to roll out its networks.

In Edinburgh, for instance, its ISP partner Commsworld has been able to secure commitments from 200 business customers and 300 council sites, representing a contract value of about £20 million (US$30.3 million) against a capital expenditure budget of between £10 million ($15.2 million) and £15 million ($22.7 million).

Although it caters heavily to enterprise and government customers in many of its existing Gigabit Cities, CityFibre's highest-profile deployment is a consumer-oriented joint venture with Sky (NYSE, London: SKY) and TalkTalk -- the UK's second- and fourth-biggest broadband operators respectively -- in the city of York.

More...

[teleprompter] 01/10/2015 12:21

The essential point is that BT with the limitations of their tweaking of the link from the street cabinet to the customer premises do not offer a future proof connection. Once a subscriber experiences improved uploads and downloads the appetite for more bandwidth will increase.

[oregano] 01/10/2015 11:22

post results roadshow going well. i saw an article the other day showing the connection of their first York business customer. 1Gb speeds for £21. surely their hands will be bitten off. you pay that for 40Mg with BT.

[freddie01] 21/9/2015 13:56

Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone urge ‘radical reform’ of UK broadband


The UK broadband market is letting customers and businesses down and it is “time we considered radical reform,” according to the chief executives of Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone UK.

In an open letter published by the Financial Times, the executives and other business leaders said there is an “urgent need for increased competition” and called for UK broadcast regulator Ofcom to ask the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to “undertake a full market investigation.”;

“Only the CMA, with the support of Ofcom, can address the structural barriers to competition that will unlock the next wave of investment in communications infrastructure that the country urgently needs. We cannot afford to wait,” according to the executives.

The letter comes as Ofcom carries out a major review of the UK communications market, with one of the topics under consideration being whether BT’s Openreach division, responsible for maintaining the national broadband network, should be split from BT’s other businesses.

The FT letter claimed that BT’s “conflict of interest” is producing a “sub-standard experience for millions of customers” and a “diminished opportunity for alternative providers to compete effectively.”

“There is an urgent need for increased competition so that alternative providers are encouraged to invest and innovate to solve the challenges ahead. These include investment to deliver broadband coverage in hard to reach areas, improved service quality and reliability, fibre products suitable for Britain’s SMEs, and new ultrafast broadband services,” said the letter.

“We do not believe that the fundamental problems identified by Ofcom can be addressed by tinkering with the existing regulatory framework. Ofcom has done a good job of delivering competition on the old copper network, but the powers given to it are insufficient for the new superfast world.”

The letter was co-signed by: Jeremy Darroch, group CEO, Sky; Dido Harding, CEO, TalkTalk; Jeroen Hoencamp, CEO, Vodafone UK; Simon Walker, director general, Institute of Directors; Malcolm Corbett, CEO, Independent Networks Co-operative Association; Chris Bryce, CEO, Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed; and Chris Pateman, CEO, Federation of Communication Services.


hxxp://www.digitaltveurope.net/430281/sky-talktalk-vodafone-urge-radical-reform-of-uk-broadband/

[edwardt] 21/9/2015 11:35

bt's openreach facing regulatory scrutiny - probably backs the thesis here for more competition.

[oregano] 11/9/2015 11:51

Edward, their broker has them positive next year. They have bucket loads of cash post the placing.

[edwardt] 10/9/2015 09:44

oregano - when do you reckon it will turn positive on a ev /ebitda basis 16/17?

[rambutan2] 08/9/2015 15:27

At last got the share price heading up as multi million contract big enough to catch some attention.

CGI announced news, minus specific names, on 24 August, so explains pre rns rise i suppose...

[oregano] 08/9/2015 14:12

no. but this is phenomenal incremental newsflow. Key will be to see the results of the york JV, does Sky / TT start connecting up Edinburgh customers over this network. the signals from TT were pretty strong when they last spoke on it.

[edwardt] 08/9/2015 13:21

profitable next year post this deal??