ISP OneTek expands new full fibre network into Clackmannanshire

Last year we reported that business focused UK ISP, IT and comms provider OneTek (One Tek Business Solutions) had secured Code Powers from Ofcom to help them expand their full fibre broadband and leased line network, starting with the West Cheshire Business Estate area. But they’ve now also begun moving into parts of Clackmannanshire (Scotland).

The provider has informed ISPreview that they’re currently in the process of deploying their new full fibre infrastructure into a number of business estates across Clackmannanshire using existing cable ducts (PIA), covering Alloa, Alva, Tillicoultry, Tullibody and Cambus (i.e. the Clacksfirst BID estates).

Admittedly Openreach have already deployed their own Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across 21,000 premises locally, but that was mostly focused on residential premises and quite a few businesses were not reached in that footprint. This is something that OneTek hope to resolve with their own infrastructure.

Businesses in and around these areas are also being pointed at the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) to help them get connected, which offers up to £5,000 per premises, qualifying on the address rather than the size of the business. OneTek makes the point that this often results on several units being connected at once, which is faster and more cost efficient than coming back later to do individual connections, while making it easier to extend their network.

The network is being built to carry Smart Place – OneTek’s estate-management platform, covering CCTV, ANPR and environmental monitoring across an estate as a whole rather than unit by unit. “That’s the anchor for the build. Having put fibre in for that, extending it to the businesses sitting on the same estates is the obvious next step, and that connectivity is what the vouchers apply to,” explained OneTek’s Luke Jackson to ISPreview.

Just to be clear, the SBVS is only being used for the final connection to individual businesses, while OneTek’s main fibre routes into estates are part of their own build and not voucher-funded. The provider states that their network is already starting to go live on the estates and so the focus now is on extending that to get nearby businesses connected.