Fibre optic network operator CityFibre is looking to install its gigabit Ethernet networks in more than 20 cities across the UK.

The British firm raised £30m through a secondary placing of shares in efforts to reach more than one million homes, businesses and public sector organisations by 2016.

The latest funding round adds to the £16.5m the company raised at its IPO four months ago, will be used to support the deployment of networks.

CityFibre CEO Greg Mesch said: "We are delighted to have a strong capital base behind us and we can now put our foot firmly on the pedal in our roll-out of Gigabit Cities.

"All the evidence points to the social and economic advantages enjoyed by cities with a future-proofed digital infrastructure and we welcome the increased interest from cities and their service providers in our shared fibre infrastructure solution."

It comes after the firm partnered with Sky and TalkTalk to rollout FTTP (fibre-to-the-premises) networks in York and Peterborough as well as acquiring a councili-owned fibre network in Coventry.

CityFibre has recently seen increased demand for its infrastructure as bandwidth services like internet TV become more popular and businesses move to internet-based communication and storage platforms.