ISP Cerberus Networks Launch UK 1Gbps Openreach FTTP Packages

Business and consumer ISP Cerberus Networks has today become one of the very few UK internet providers to launch both a 500Mbps and 1Gbps broadband tier using Openreach’s (BT) premium Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) products. On top of that they’ve also reduced the price of their hybrid fibre G.fast packages.

Openreach’s Gigabit capable “full fibre” tier, as well as their 500Mbps option, were first launched all the way back at the end of 2016 (here and here) but since then very few ISPs have introduced related products (e.g. Spectrum Internet but only in certain parts of the UK).

The extra demands of the service, as well as its initially high connection charge (£500 +vat), were often highlighted as obstacles to adoption. Likewise some parts of Openreach’s FTTP network were not yet able to support the new tiers. As a result of this most supporting ISPs have tended to only offer the more affordable 330Mbps FTTP tier as their top option for consumers and businesses.

Nevertheless Cerberus Networks has today introduced both of these tiers to their line-up of packages and they’re even offering the option of a “free activation” with a 24 month contract term (£48.00 inc. VAT activation with a 12 month term), although this is somewhat mitigated by the high rental charge.

Like it or not both of these tiers are still aimed more at small business users (although we’re using inc. VAT pricing below) and would struggle to compete with the 1Gbps pricing being offered to residential users by many rival alternative network ISPs (Hyperoptic, Cityfibre / Vodafone etc.). This is of course down more to Openreach’s wholesale charges than Cerberus.

Cerberus FTTP XL

Up to 500Mbps down
Up to 165Mbps up
1, 4 or 8 IPs
Unlimited usage (subject to AUP)
Free Zyxel VMG3925 Wireless Router
NetSTATS monitoring and alerting
£48.00 MyCloud Voucher

PRICE: £187.20 Monthly* with 12 Month Contract

* Pricing applies to Ofcom Market B exchanges and where an active BT PSTN phone line is installed at the premises. Non Market B exchanges are subject to a market A surcharge of £175.00 monthly and premises with no active BT PSTN line are subject to a surcharge of £9.00 monthly.

Cerberus FTTP Ultra

Up to 1Gbps down
Up to 220Mbps up
1, 4 or 8 IPs
Unlimited usage (subject to AUP)
Free Zyxel VMG3925 Wireless Router
NetSTATS monitoring and alerting
£48.00 MyCloud Voucher

PRICE: £259.20 Monthly* with 12 Month Contract

* Pricing applies to Ofcom Market B exchanges and where an active BT PSTN phone line is installed at the premises. Non Market B exchanges are subject to a market A surcharge of £325.00 monthly and premises with no active BT PSTN line are subject to a surcharge of £9.00 monthly.

Cerberus has also launched enhanced care packages for all Openreach-based broadband services. Cerberus Broadband Care offers ether a 7 or 20 clock hour fix for faults, elevated best efforts throughput and one third-party (Qube) engineer visit per month if required. This adds +£17.28 or +£19.98 respectively to your monthly rental.

Bob Hendy, Cerberus Networks’ Director, told ISPreview.co.uk:

“Since we started as a business in 2006, we have always led the way with technically innovative solutions. From being one of the first providers of 24Mbps ADSL2+, to bonded broadband, and now FTTP on Demand and 1Gbps FTTP, we have a proven track record of meeting customer demand for reliability, higher bandwidth and reduced costs.

The new 1Gbps and 500Mbps FTTP services, together with the new Cerberus Broadband Care bundles, finally offer a real alternative to Ethernet leased lines for modern businesses. This is a really exciting time for broadband customers looking to consolidate their moves to the cloud or to VoIP.”

In addition to new FTTP services, the ISP has also reduced the price of their G.fast broadband. The Cerberus G.fast Pro (up to 300Mbps down, 50Mbps up and with unlimited usage) is now £48 per month without line rental (£61.80 inc. line rental). You also get free activation with a 24 month contract, otherwise £124.80 (one-off) with a 12 month contract. If a new phone line is required, a £126.00 installation charge will apply.