Gigaclear Starts Build of 1Gbps Broadband Network in Gloucestershire

Fibre optic ISP Gigaclear has announced the start of construction on their new 1000Mbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network in rural Gloucestershire (England) and the Cotswolds, which should reach 6,495 additional premises in the county by the end of 2017.

The Fastershire contract, which was signed in June 2015 (here), is funded by £3m of public investment and a further £7m of private investment from Gigaclear itself. The deal is also one of the very few Broadband Delivery UK based projects in England to be agreed with an operator other than BT.

Construction has now started, with the first phase beginning in Badgeworth where a new 10km long track will be built in order to reach the first cabinet. Civil engineering firm, Complete Utilities, is the principal contractor.

Matthew Hare, CEO of Gigaclear, said:

“We have taken the first step to build a new Gigabit broadband network across the Cotswolds. This will be a life changing project for many people living and working here with poor broadband service. Gigaclear is proud that our new ultrafast pure fibre broadband will deliver performance up to 40 times faster than the UK average to thousands of homes and businesses in 2016 and 2017.

Working with Gloucestershire County Council, we aim to keep disruption to a minimum during this initial construction stage as we install this new, future proof telecommunications network.”

Under the plan communities in Coberley, Upper Coberley, Cockleford, Colesbourne, Cowley, Elkstone, Seven Springs and Stockwell will have access to the service before Christmas 2015.

The news follows a day after Gigaclear announced that their FTTP network had so far managed to cover 10,000 premises (here), with big plans to expand over the next five years.