Hyperoptic Bring 1Gbps Home FTTB Broadband to Cardiff, Bristol and Reading

Urban-focused ISP Hyperoptic has today announced that its “hyper-sonic” 1000Mbps (Megabits per second) capable home and business Fibre-To-The-Building (FTTB) network will finally be expanding beyond London, with the first of their new “hypercities” to include locations in Cardiff (Wales), Bristol and Reading (England).

At the last count Hyperoptic had managed to pass 20,000 homes in London (March 2013), which predominantly consisted of large urban apartment blocks (MDUs). Since then the ISP has begun to expand its focus towards businesses and recently secured £50 million in fresh investment from Quantum Strategic Partners (here).

Last year the ISP confirmed that this new investment would be used to help their network expand into 10 new UK cities (around 80,000 premises) by the end of 2014, while their longer-term goal is to pass 500,000 by 2018. But today’s update reveals that their network will shortly pass more than 35,000 homes, spanning 150 major property developments in the capital.

Dana Tobak, MD and co-Founder of Hyperoptic, said:

“We are delighted to bring Hyperoptic to residential and commercial developments in Bristol, Cardiff and Reading. Our ground-breaking broadband speeds have been available to schemes in London since 2011, and there is clearly robust demand for speed, reliability and connectivity across the UK. This is no more true than in these three cities, which we are pleased to name as our first ‘hypercities’ outside the capital.”

The cities were apparently selected based on several key factors, including consumer demand and overall density of the population. A number of additional cities are expected to be announced over “the months ahead” and meanwhile the ISP will also continue their “rapid expansion” across London.

A spokesperson for Hyperoptic also confirmed to ISPreview.co.uk that they intended to target blocks of flats/developments within a 15km – 20km radius of Reading, Bristol and Cardiff city centre. The first buildings going live will be in Bristol, which includes the residential Airpoint development (255 homes) and the seven floor Robinson Building.

Hyperoptic are also in negotiations with a number of “big property developments” in each of the new cities and they’re encouraging consumers to register their interest because they’ll “prioritise provision where there is biggest demand“.

A Pay TV service has also been on the cards for a while, especially after last year’s recruitment of BTVision’s (IPTV) former Head of Propositions, Darren Shenkin. But we’ve yet to see much happening on this front and Hyperoptic’s primary focus remains, for now at least, tightly fixed upon their on-going FTTB roll-out.

Prices for the ISPs service start at just £12.50 inc. VAT a month for their unlimited 20Mbps package (£40 setup fee on a 12 month contract), which rises to £25 for a 100Mbps service and then £50 for 1000Mbps (Megabits per second). If you absolutely must also have a fixed phone line then that will set you back from another £12.50 per month.

The pace of Hyperoptic’s development is extremely impressive and the fact they’re boldly taking on big name rivals, such as BT and Virgin Media, in some of the same areas is perhaps a testament to the strength of what they’re offering. But it’s a long and expensive road to roll-out fibre and that’s why Hyperoptic are being careful to establish demand first.