A coalition of 46 signatories (mostly in Scotland), including various outdoor conservation organisations, community councils / trusts and landowners, have again called on the UK government to avoid “needless damage to large areas of some of the wildest places” by reconsidering the rural expansion of 4G (broadband) mobile masts under the £1bn Shared Rural Network project.

The industry-led SRN project with EE (BT), Vodafone, Three UK and O2 (Virgin Media) – supported by £501m of public funding and £532m from operators – involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between the operators (MNO). The target is to extend geographic 4G coverage (aggregate) to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025, which falls to 84% when only considering the areas where you’ll be able to take 4G from all providers. Future 5G upgrades will also benefit from the new infrastructure.

The SRN includes two key targets. The first involves the delivery of industry funded coverage improvements in Partial Not-Spot (PNS) areas (i.e. areas that receive coverage from at least one operator, but not all), which needed to be achieved by June 2024 – at this point 4G (mobile broadband) must cover 88% of the UK’s landmass (only Three UK appear to have missed this – here).

The second target, which is the one that the aforementioned coalition has concerns about, involves tackling Total Not-Spot (TNS) areas by early 2027. Just to be clear, Ofcom’s licence obligations commit each individual operator to increase its 4G coverage to 88% of the UK’s landmass by June 2024 – rising to 90% by January 2027 – with these individual obligations supporting the overall target of 95% by December 2025.

The SRN largely only exists because many people and MPs were complaining about the UK’s patchy mobile coverage, which has long been noted to be particularly weak in rural areas. But not everybody is happy with the idea of erecting masts around the countryside, and that’s particularly true in Scotland, where 260 sites have been classified as TNS.

The coalition, which includes various organisations such as RSPB Scotland, the John Muir Trust, Mountaineering Scotland, Scottish Land & Estates, the National Trust for Scotland, Ramblers Scotland, and Woodland Trust Scotland, among others, have now written to the UK’s new Digital Infrastructure Minister, Sir Chris Bryant, and called on him to consider the environmental impact of the SRN.

The focus of all this seems to be on TNS areas, where the coalition claims that sites are “often selected mainly to provide landmass coverage and meet the geographical targets of the programme, rather than prioritising coverage for communities or transport routes.” This is worth investigating, but it should also be noted that mobile operators are commercial companies and will generally still seek to gain some return on their investment (i.e. improving rural coverage is not the most lucrative of exercises, but it usually does still bring something back).

Sarah-Jane Laing, CEO of Scottish Land and Estates, said:

“The SRN programme has been vital in improving mobile connectivity for many communities and businesses across Scotland, but it risks undermining that achievement by placing expensive masts in locations where there is no demand for them and where the infrastructure will be a blot on the landscape – potentially irreparably damaging these special, often untouched, places.

We are urging the Government to undertake a review of the TNS programme and take a pragmatic approach rather than simply pushing forward in order to achieve ill-devised targets.”

In keeping with all this, Mountaineering Scotland have produced an interactive map and list of active SRN planning proposals (here). But if any of this sounds familiar, then that’s because the same coalition raised similar concerns toward the end of last year (here). The new approach is thus perhaps an attempt to test the waters and see whether the new Labour-led government is more receptive to their concerns.

However, the new government has already committed to making a “renewed push to fulfil the ambition of full gigabit and national 5G coverage by 2030” (i.e. broadly supporting the previous government’s targets), and have similarly moved to cut more red tape via reform of the planning system. Suffice to say that we do not expect too many changes from the Government on this side of things.

Alternative network operator and broadband ISP CommunityFibre, which has deployed their 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across around 1.4 million UK premises (mostly in London), has today announced that their customer base has grown to 300,000 (up from 200,000+ on 27th Nov 2023).

The provider states that they’ve seen an 85% increase in their customer base over the past 12 months as more people look to alternative networks (Altnets) for faster, more affordable fibre broadband. The company, which is backed by a finance facility of £985m, also announced it has been Ebitda positive throughout Q2.

Breaking news.. more to follow..

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Institute of Directors (IoD) have this week written to the UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, in the hope of encouraging them to extend the automatic compensation scheme for consumer broadband outages to businesses. Easier said than done.

The current voluntary system (full summary), which was first introduced in 2019, typically requires member ISPs to compensate consumers (cash or bill credits) by £9.76 per day for delayed repairs following a loss of broadband (assuming it isn’t fixed within 2 working days and is the fault of the ISP’s own connected network and not within your home). Missed appointments also attract compensation of £30.49 and a delay to the start of a new service would be £6.10 per day.

Ofcom’s existing compensation scheme does in fact cover some business ISP networks and connections too, albeit specifically only those that sell domestic grade fixed line broadband services. But the BCC, FSB and IoD are calling on the regulator to extend this and to do more to improve network resilience, so that they face fewer costly disruptions and that would, they say, “deliver significant productivity benefits to the UK economy”.

“Supporting businesses to increase productivity and economic growth is critical, and solutions which drive improvements in UK connectivity infrastructure will play an important role in achieving this,” said the joint letter to Ofcom, which has been seen by the FT (paywall).

However, extending the automatic compensation system into areas like Ethernet connectivity and Leased Lines, would be tricky. Firstly, these should already be covered by Service Level Agreements (SLAs) where compensation plays a role. On the other hand, SLAs do vary, but this is still an area where we’d generally expect larger businesses to have greater competency in their contract arrangements and network setup than consumers.

In addition, a competent business would know to ensure that they have access to good redundancy for when their main link fails, although some still fail at the basics. Suffice to say that extending the regulator’s own scheme, which we must not forget is still a voluntary one, would be a much more complex and costly field for the regulator to set standardised pricing around.

The latest push also appears to echo a survey from London ISP Vorboss earlier this year (here). This found that 51% of businesses with a fixed business internet contract reported that they experienced at least one loss of service in the past year (crucially, it’s unclear if this was due to a local network issue or the ISP’s side), while 61% of businesses that experienced an outage did not receive any compensation.

James Fredrickson, Vorboss’ Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, said:

“It’s clear from the responses of the biggest business internet providers that compensation is anything but automatic. Hiding behind compensating on a ‘case-by-case’ basis is exactly what Ofcom needs to put a stop to.

Our research shows that 61% of businesses that experienced an outage in the last year did not receive any compensation, with 44% saying requesting compensation wasn’t worth the time and effort.

For those that do pursue compensation, the typical payout is hardly worth the effort. Standard business internet tariffs today would offer only £7.53 per hour of outage in compensation – about the price of a pint of craft beer in a London pub – for outages costing a typical London business more than £18,000 in productivity a year.

By forcing internet providers to automatically compensate, Ofcom would incentivise networks to minimise outages and compete on resilience of connectivity. Our research shows that even marginal improvements will have dramatic productivity benefits for UK businesses.”

The regulator is currently in the process of updating their network resilience guidance to provide greater clarity on how UK broadband ISPs, mobile operators and other digital network companies can “reduce the risk of network outages“ (here).

Ofcom are expected to issue a statement on this soon, but at present their proposals do not include a plan for extending automatic compensation to premium business connections and doing so would certainly require a separate consultation, while potentially also raising the price of related connectivity services.

Ofcom’s Proposals

We propose to introduce an updated version of our resilience guidance for CPs, which sets out the measures we expect them to take in relation to the resilience of their networks, as part of their security duties under s105A-D of the Communications Act 2003. Measures contained in the proposed guidance are flexible enough to apply to all types of CPs offering communications networks and services in the UK, while also allowing for continued technology evolution.

This includes:

• Ensuring that networks are designed to avoid or reduce single points of failure.

• Ensuring that key infrastructure points have automatic failover functionality built in, so that when equipment fails network traffic is immediately diverted to another device or site that can maintain end user connectivity.

• Setting out the processes, tools, and training that should be considered to support the requirements on resilience.

UPDATE 7:42am

We’ve managed to get a copy of the full letter.

Open Letter to Ofcom

Dear Dame Melanie,

We are writing to you to express our collective support for an automatic compensation scheme for fixed business connectivity.

Connectivity is a key enabler of economic growth. We know from our members that having access to resilient and reliable connectivity helps all types of businesses to operate successfully. And that loss of connectivity has a significant impact on productivity.

We all want to play a part in helping the UK economy to grow, but connectivity outages are impacting this ambition. Recent research commissioned by Vorboss identified that more than half of UK fixed business connectivity customers experienced one or more outages in the past year. As a result, the UK economy lost approximately £17.6 billion in economic output over the same time period.

This shows that even small improvements in network resilience would result in significant productivity benefits to the UK economy.

Despite these outages, 61% of businesses did not receive any compensation. This is consistent with Ofcom’s own work in which it raised concerns about the quality of service and compensation in the fixed business connectivity market.

To drive improvements in service quality in the residential consumer market, Ofcom introduced automatic compensation. This has been a success. By compelling network operators to automatically compensate customers for outages, the scheme incentivised networks to improve network reliability and reduce outages.

We then ask Ofcom to consider establishing a similar automatic compensation scheme for fixed business connectivity providers. The outcome of improved network resilience and fewer outages will deliver significant productivity benefits to the UK economy. Providers may also choose to go beyond the requirements of the scheme as a point of competitive differentiation. It will also act to provide reassurance to businesses that compensation claims are real and can be relied upon.

Supporting businesses to increase productivity and economic growth is critical, and solutions which drive improvements in UK connectivity infrastructure will play an important role in achieving this.

Your sincerely,

Alex Veitch, Director of Policy, British Chamber of Commerce

Gruffudd Jones, Policy Advisor, Federation of Small Businesses

Alexandra Hall-Chen, Principal Policy Advisor, Institute of Directors

The next batch of four government-funded rural 4G (mobile broadband) mast upgrades have gone live in some of Britain’s most visited national parks, which forms part of the industry-led £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project with EE (BT), Vodafone, Three UK and O2 (Virgin Media).

The SRN – supported by £501m of public funding and £532m from operators – involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between the operators (MNO). The target is to extend geographic 4G coverage (aggregate) to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025, which falls to 84% when only considering the areas where you’ll be able to take 4G from all providers.

Most of the early work on the SRN has typically involved private investment from the main mobile network operators, although over the past year we’ve also seen government-funded mast upgrades taking place in other parts of the UK (examples here, here and here).

The latest 4 sites to be upgraded today include areas of outstanding natural beauty across England and Wales, such as Snowdonia, the Shropshire Hills, the Wye Valley, and the Brecon Beacons. This element of the SRN sees the government (DSIT) providing a total of £184m from the £500m public SRN funding to the Home Office and mobile network operators to help upgrade Extended Area Service (EAS) masts being built as part of the 4G Emergency Services Network (ESN), which helps to eliminate total not-spot areas.

Chris Bryant, Minister of State for Telecoms, said:

“We want everyone to be able to enjoy the breath-taking views of our mountains, parks, and lakes and this connectivity boost without any impact on scenery will give visitors the peace of mind to be able to call a friend should they get lost, or find their way to enjoy a much-needed lunch break in a local pub.”

So far a total of 16 EAS mast upgrades have been switched on – including 13 in Wales, 1 in Scotland and 2 in England. Overall, the SRN has already led to an additional 14,800 square kilometres – an area roughly the size of Northern Ireland or two million football pitches – receiving 4G coverage from all four operators. The government and the UK’s four mobile network operators ultimately aim to provide coverage to an additional 280,000 premises and 16,000km of the UK’s roads.

The SRN includes two key targets. The first involves the delivery of industry funded coverage improvements in Partial Not-Spot (PNS) areas (i.e. areas that receive coverage from at least one operator, but not all), which needed to be achieved by June 2024 – at this point 4G (mobile broadband) must cover 88% of the UK’s landmass (EE, Vodafone and O2 all claim to have achieved this, but Three UK appear to be lagging behind).

The second target involves Total Not-Spot (TNS) areas by early 2027. Just to be clear, Ofcom’s licence obligations commit each individual operator to increase its 4G coverage to 88% of the UK’s landmass by June 2024 – rising to 90% by January 2027 – with these individual obligations supporting the overall target of 95% by December 2025.

Ofcom are currently reviewing the progress of the SRN scheme, which follows some earlier criticism of the programme by both the National Audit Office (here) and Public Accounts Committee (here). But at least some of the concerns over progress have recently been tackled (here and here).

Alternative network ISP Fibrus, which is deploying a new multi-gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across rural parts of Cumbria and Northern Ireland, has today announced that they’ve secured an additional £100m tranche of Senior Debt and are now “fully funded to complete” their roll-out plan for 500,000 UK premises.

The new funding package represents an increase to the Belfast-based operator’s existing £200m senior debt facility and £20m revolving credit facility (RCF). The amendment to the existing facility was supported by all its existing lenders: UKIB, ING, LBBW, ABN Amro, Natwest and Sabadell, and three of these lenders are contributing to the £100m accordion facility.

In terms of build progress, Fibrus reports that they’ve now “largely completed” their build in Northern Ireland and have already covered 315,000 homes, which includes 245,000 through its commercial build and a further 70,000 through Project Stratum.

On top of that they’ve also built to over 60,000 homes in Cumbria and plan to reach 170,000 within the next two years (this is now fully funded by today’s debt raise). The operator’s total UK coverage thus now stands at 375,000 premises passed (it’s unclear if these are all ‘Ready for Service’), which is up from 354,000 premises on 31st March 2024.

Dominic Kearns, Founder & CEO, said:

“We are absolutely delighted to have secured this additional tranche of debt funding with the support from our existing lenders. Receiving this £100m commitment in today’s very challenging market is particularly pleasing and is a huge vote of confidence in our business.

We are now fully funded for all our existing programmes, and within two years we will have built to half a million properties that can benefit from broadband that is done right.”

Colin Hutchinson, CFO of Fibrus, said:

“This £100 million funding will enable Fibrus to continue in its mission to transform the lives of customers who had previously been left behind. The support from our existing lenders, including UKIB who are contributing £55 million, demonstrates the strength of our plans to bring a faster, more reliable, and affordable broadband service to the hardest to reach parts of Northern Ireland and now Cumbria. The need for Fibrus is clear in the level of penetration we are achieving, particularly in Cumbria where penetration regularly exceeds 30% within a few months of launch.

The Fibrus roll out in Northern Ireland has made a significant contribution to the digital connectivity landscape, with the region now enjoying the highest rate of connectivity of all the UK regions – sitting at 91% coverage against a UK average of 56%.”

Finally, Fibrus notes that their customer base continues to increase, reaching 90,000 connected customers in July 2024 (up from 80,000 on 31st March 2024), and “achieving a penetration level of 23%“. This is a strong position for an operator at Fibrus’ stage of development to be at.

Residential customers can expect to pay from £24.99 £21.99 per month for download speeds of 159Mbps (average) and uploads of 34Mbps on a 24-month term (£39.99 thereafter), which rises to £44.99 £39.99 for their top 982Mbps (310Mbps) tier (£59.99 thereafter). The packages also include an Amazon Eero 6+ router (or routers), UK support, free setup and the pledge of “no mid-contract price hikes“. Prices may differ in areas of subsidised build. Fibrus does have a 2Gbps plan too, but they don’t advertise it.

Leeds-based internet provider Unchained ISP appears to have recently complemented their existing range of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) packages on Openreach’s national network by launching a similar range via alternative network operator CityFibre, albeit with a few notable benefits.

The new packages naturally have the benefit of symmetrical speeds (same download and upload rate) and they’re also being offered on a short 30-day minimum contract term (the Openreach packages are on 12-month terms). Otherwise, packages on both networks include a Static IP address and apply a £25 one-off installation fee.

The above may help to explain why the new 160Mbps CityFibre package from Unchained ISP costs a fairly hefty £55 per month and their 1Gbps plan is £70 per month, which certainly isn’t the cheapest (quite a few CityFibre providers offer 1Gbps for a lot less, albeit usually on a longer term and often without the static IP). Credits to Phil for spotting.

CityFibre currently aspires to cover up to 8 million UK premises with their new FTTP network (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity, c.£4.9bn debt and c.£800m of BDUK subsidy) – across around 300 cities, towns and villages (c.30% of the UK). But it remains unclear precisely when this will be achieved (the original goal was the end of 2025), although their current build + M&A plan may get them up to c.6m (if it all goes well).

Some customers trying to order a broadband package via ISPs on CityFibre’s new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network are finding, in certain locations, that the wholesale operator has been rejecting orders where their network is “at capacity“. This is despite continuing to list the same addresses as being available on their website.

First things first. All broadband networks can run into issues of capacity, such as those that might occur when there aren’t enough spare ports currently available for new connections on a specific street or where the local supply of data capacity (backhaul etc.) has become oversubscribed.

Good capacity management usually helps to avoid most of this. But even the best operators can sometimes run into the odd issue, and it’s how you deal with those that really matters. For example, some operators will simply block the ability to place new orders for locations in this boat or may instead adopt a ‘Waiting List‘ strategy, where customers are placed into a queue until such time as the issue is resolved. Good communication is also key.

In the case of the CityFibre complaints we’ve seen, a few customers have reported to ISPreview that their orders were simply rejected – often without a clear explanation (i.e. they weren’t initially told it was due to a capacity issue or when the problem would be resolved). But after a bit of nudging by those involved, it was later confirmed to be a capacity issue (although they didn’t specify what kind).

Just to confuse matters further, related customers found that CityFibre’s website (and sometimes supporting ISPs) were continuing to list their addresses as being available to order. Suffice to say that customers were left with a confusing picture and no clear indication of when the issue would actually be resolved, let alone how they’d be able to tell without going through the whole order process again.

A CityFibre Spokesperson told ISPreview:

“We continuously manage and increase capacity to stay ahead of demand but we are aware of a very small number of cases where we’ve had to decline an individual order. We would like to apologise to anyone affected and assure customers that our network capacity is being continuously extended to ensure everyone has the opportunity to access it.

We are enhancing our availability tracker to ensure it takes into account such cases, as well as working closely with our ISP partners to further improve the customer experience.”

Sadly, CityFibre didn’t provide any indication of precisely when their availability tracker would be enhanced or how, but we welcome that they’ve recognised the need for improvements and were quick to respond when the matter was raised. In most of these cases the capacity issue itself does not, we believe, appear to have been related to port availability, which suggests a different cause.

CityFibre currently aspires to cover up to 8 million UK premises with their new FTTP network (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity, c.£4.9bn debt and c.£800m of BDUK subsidy) – across over 285 cities, towns and villages (c.30% of the UK). But it remains unclear precisely when this will be achieved. The original goal was for the end of 2025, although their current build + M&A plan may get them up to c.6m (if it all goes well).

In any case, as networks grow, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see a rise in capacity related complaints, although it should be stressed that such issues are usually quite uncommon and typically only impact a tiny percentage of an operator’s national network at any one time.

News

The news follows BT’s initial launch of the content delivery solution in December 2023 

BT and Edgio have announced the launch of the world’s first Multicast-Assisted Unicast Delivery (MAUD)-enabled Content Delivery Network (CDN).  

The partnership aims to improve the delivery of live television over the internet, by offering benefits such as cost reduction, enhanced content quality, scalability, and more sustainable streaming. 

Edgio, integrating its CDN with BT Group’s MAUD technology, will be the first to implement this solution in a live environment. The companies plan to trial the delivery of EE TV content on selected set-top boxes within the live network in the coming months. 

MAUD combines multiple streams into a single ‘multicast’ in the core of the network, which is then converted back into single streams to serve individual customer. In this way, MAUD improves the efficiency of live streaming over the internet, giving a more reliable user experience. 

For CDN operators like Edgio, MAUD will be particularly impactful for for live streaming TV, reducing the impact of other internet traffic and ensuring consistent content quality, especially during large-scale events with more viewers. 

According to BT, MAUD technology requires up to 50% less bandwidth during peak events, reducing strain on the network and energy consumption, as well as removing the need for extensive hardware. Content providers can integrate with the MAUD-enabled CDN without needing to modify their existing player applications. 

“Our collaboration with Edgio represents an important step in developing an efficient live streaming solution that aligns with the needs of content delivery networks. By integrating MAUD with CDNs, we aim to provide a practical solution for content providers,” said Howard Watson, Chief Security and Networks Officer at BT. 

“The partnership allows us to deliver more consistent and high-quality experiences to our clients, particularly in markets with diverse network solutions,” said Emma Whitmore, Group Vice President EMEA at Edgio. 

Join BT at this year’s Connected Britain, 11-12 September in London. Get tickets here 

 Also in the news:
Meet our Top 20 Telco AI Champions!
Are AI and Sustainability Compatible?
Singtel partners with Bridge Alliance to boost GPUaaS offering

News 

On Day 1 of Connected Britain (September 11), ten startups from the Startup Village will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, including investors and industry experts. The winner will be awarded the Connected Britain 2024 Startup of the Year Award at the prestigious Connected Britain Awards ceremony later that evening.

After a competitive first round of judging, here are the ten startups shortlisted from the 90 attending the show this year! 

Connected
Specialising in advanced building management solutions, the company focuses on integrating technology to enhance the efficiency and functionality of commercial spaces. Their offerings include smart building technologies for managing lighting, heating, cooling, and security, all designed to be energy-efficient and user-friendly. 

ZIM Connections
This eSIM marketplace provides a variety of affordable data plans for over 190 countries. The platform allows users to compare, select, and purchase eSIM plans in three steps, simplifying international travel by eliminating roaming fees and ensuring global connectivity. 

yWe Media
Based in Oxford, yWe Media focuses on ethical digital solutions in media and audio. It offers privacy-friendly products such as cookie-free analytics and customisable podcast hosting. The company emphasizes ethical data usage and helping businesses avoid reliance on large corporations. 

EV Mobiliti
Providing comprehensive electric vehicle (EV) solutions, EV Mobiliti offers services including public and rapid charging, charge station booking, and consultancy. Its MELT system prevents internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles from blocking EV charging slots, and their priority booking service enhances charging efficiency and revenue for charge station operators. 

Appella AI
This startup delivers AI-powered voice assistants designed to boost customer service for businesses. Its solutions handle call routing, FAQ answering, appointment scheduling, and real-time transcription. With a focus on data security and customisation, Appella AI integrates with over 100 apps to align with specific business needs while ensuring accurate and reliable AI interactions. 

Thinking Machine
An AI-driven platform aimed at mid-to-large enterprises, Thinking Machine optimises telecom and IT procurement costs. The platform continuously audits contracts and invoices to identify savings opportunities, reduce hidden costs, and streamline vendor management, providing immediate financial benefits without complex integrations. 

Qomodo
Focusing on cybersecurity, Qomodo offers solutions for identity verification and fraud prevention. Its tools ensure secure and seamless online transactions, helping businesses mitigate risks associated with identity theft and fraud. It provides real-time identity verification, user authentication, and risk assessment to enhance trust and safety in digital interactions. 

Halleyx
Specialising in advanced logistics and supply chain solutions, Halleyx offers a platform that optimises and streamlines logistics operations. Its tools enable real-time tracking, management, and analysis of supply chains, enhancing efficiency and transparency for businesses. 

Lumilinks
Founded in 2018 and based in Cambridge, Lumilinks helps organisations effectively use their data. Led by data science expert Dr. Tim Drye, the company offers services such as data storage, visualisation, and analysis. They transform complex data into understandable charts and graphs and use advanced techniques like machine learning to predict future trends. 

Polaris Safety 

Polaris is a live GPS-sharing public safety app. It acts as “digital North Star” for humans globally, starting from women and girls. IT does this by providing AI-powered self-protection features, connecting users to 24/7 multilingual helplines, and digitally integrating with user’s local emergency institutes. 

Watch these amazing startups present their business cases on the Innovate Britain stage on September 11 at Connected Britain! Tickets for Connected Britain 2024 are still available here 

Network operator FullFibre Limited (Fibre Heroes), which has already extended their open access Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGSPON) broadband network to cover 380,000 UK premises (up from 339k in May 2024), have today made a faster 2.3Gbps (symmetric speed) tier available to their partner ISPs for consumers and businesses to take.

The underlying full fibre network typically covers 170 towns across parts of Derbyshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire in England.

The operator’s growing network is also supported by a number of retail ISPs, such as BeFibre, Link Broadband, iDNET, Squirrel Internet, Octaplus, Fusion Fibre, TalkTalk, Direct Save Telecom Home Telecom and more. But until now the fastest packages that those providers could sell went up to a maximum speed of 1Gbps (1000Mbps).

However, over the past few months we’ve seen a number of network operators launch 2Gbps or faster tiers, which have today been joined by a new 2.3Gbps tier from FullFibre. This is now available to the “majority of FullFibre’s existing 380,000+ premises” footprint, with plans to enhance additional GPON areas “soon“.

Matt Baker, Head of Wholesale at FullFibre, told ISPreview:

“With FullFibre largely building in areas traditionally served by older infrastructure, the introduction of our 2.3Gb symmetric service offers an exciting new option for both businesses and consumers. This new level of performance is designed to meet the growing demands for high-speed, reliable broadband connectivity, enabling businesses to run critical services more effectively and efficiently.”

At the time of writing there don’t appear to be any live retail packages available at this speed on their network, although that will no doubt change. Looking ahead, the network operator said they’re “on track” to reach 400,000 premises Ready For Service (RFS) in the “second half of this year“.

In addition, today’s announcement also reveals that Cumbria-based wholesale (aggregator) connectivity provider IP River have also joined their network.