TalkTalk has agreed to sell its fiber network, which initially built ultra-fast connections in the northern city of York, to Goldman Sachs-backed CityFibre for 200 million pounds or $260 million.
TalkTalk has reported revenue of £764 million and EBITDA of £140 million during the first half of fiscal 2020. TalkTalk has two million customers taking a Fibre product, adding nearly 292,000 customers in the half of fiscal 2020.
TalkTalk has agreed a wholesale agreement with CityFibre for its residential and business customers in the areas in which it builds networks.
TalkTalk started laying its own fiber optic cables in a trial, initially with broadband rival Sky, to challenge national operator BT Group, which had been criticized for dragging its heels in building its own fiber-to-the-premises networks, Reuters reported.
It created a new company called FibreNation in 2018, which had ambitions to build a network serving 3 million premises.
The sale of FibreNation to CityFibre was delayed late last year when the opposition Labour Party pledged to nationalize BT’s Openreach network if it won a December election. The threat was removed with a decisive victory by Boris Johnson’s Conservatives.
“The sale of FibreNation to CityFibre, in combination with a wholesale agreement, enables us to continue our strategy to accelerate TalkTalk’s fiber growth for our residential and business customers,” TalkTalk CEO Tristia Harrison said.
