MS3 Confirm First Trial Areas for Ultrafast FTTH Broadband in Hull UK

Communications provider MS3, which last week announced plans to roll-out an “ultrafast” Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH/P) broadband network around parts of Hull in East Yorkshire (here), has today confirmed an initial investment of £500,000 and named their first trial area of 1,200 homes.

Apparently MS3’s announcement drew a “remarkable level” of interest from residents across the City and beyond, reaching as far as Brough and Thorngumbald. Never the less the operator, which will be taking on the local incumbent of KCOM that has a similar FTTP network of its own, has been able to identify an initial area in West Hull for their first trial of the service.

Residents in the following streets will be included in the trial: Calvert Lane, Hamlyn Avenue, Cardigan Road, Meadowbank Road, Roslyn Road, Morris Road, Woldcarr Road, Northfield Road, Springfield Road and Parkfield Drive.

We note that the entire trial area actually reflects a total of 2,813 properties and MS3’s current calculations estimate a cost of £500 per home passed, which is similar to how much Cityfibre, Sky Broadband and TalkTalk have been quoting for their FTTH/P roll-out in the city of York.

Tony Hales, MS3’s Managing Director, told ISPreview.co.uk:

“We are delighted at the responses we’ve had so far from residents in Hull regarding ConnectHull. There is clearly a huge demand for a genuine fixed line alternative to KCOM.

We have now identified an initial area to undertake a trial of the service and we are confident this will be a great benefit to both the local community and to Hull on a much wider scale.”

Anyone in the initial trial area that requires a service can sign up at connectHull or call 01482 221721 and residents of other areas can still register their interest on the same website and will then be notified when it is available in their area.

The ISP said they were now putting together roll-out plans to reach in excess of 20,000 homes per year from 2017 onwards, with those areas expected to be announced in December 2016. Meanwhile the first trial customers could be connected in October 2016, with development starting this month.

Prices start from just £24.99 inc. VAT per month (no phone line rental required) for the 50Mbps service (10Mbps upload) and this will only attract a monthly rolling contract, although it is hobbled by a 200GB download limit. Meanwhile the top 1Gbps (100Mbps upload) package would attract a 1TB allowance (1000GB) for £59.99.