ISP Hyperoptic Goes Live with 1000Mbps Broadband in Birmingham

Pure fibre optic ISP Hyperoptic has announced that their Gigabit (1000Mbps) Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network is now live in the city of Birmingham, with Queens College Chambers being the first residential development in the middle of the city to benefit.

Birmingham is one of several major cities on the ISP’s current roll-out map, with others including London (this is where they have the most coverage), Glasgow, Cardiff, Bristol, Reading, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham and Newcastle.

The ISP predicts that they will have “thousands of residents and businesses connected to its [Birmingham] network” by the end of 2015. At present Hyperoptic can already reach well over 100,000 premises in the UK, although the medium-term plan is to cover 500,000 premises by 2018.

Tim Huxtable, Hyperoptic’s National Team Manager, said:

“We are thrilled to switch on our gigabit services in Birmingham and add the city to our dedicated fibre network. For too long residents and businesses in Birmingham have been short-changed with sub-standard broadband connectivity – across the city the average broadband speed is 20.7Mbps – we are charging this up by over 4,000%, taking the time from downloading a HD movie from approximately seven minutes to seven seconds.

With reliable, hyperfast broadband comes limitless business opportunities and the ability to live our lives without compromise or worrying about bandwidth and taking it in turns to go online!“

The ISP generally tends to focus on connecting larger buildings (e.g. Multi-Dwelling Units with at least 50 units / apartments) or big office blocks and primarily those where the local demand is deemed to be strong enough for them to make an investment.

Otherwise the ISP’s packages are priced based on whether or not you take a standalone (broadband-only) or bundle (broadband and phone), with Phone Line Rental typically adding £16 inc. VAT per month to the cost of bundled services. A 12 month contract is also applicable.

Hyperoptic’s packages also include a free wireless router, free installation (note: standalone users will have to pay £40 activation), unlimited usage and those who take the phone service will also benefit from free evening and weekend calls.

Standalone Broadband (No Phone Service)

20Mbps Fibre Broadband
PRICE: £22 per month + £40 Setup Fee

100Mbps Fibre Broadband
PRICE: £22 per month for 6 months (£35 thereafter) + £40 Setup Fee

1Gig Fibre Broadband
PRICE: £35 per month for 6 months (£60 thereafter) + £40 Setup Fee

Broadband and Phone Bundle

20Mbps BB + Phone
PRICE: £9 per month + Line Rental

100Mbps BB + Phone
PRICE: £9 per month for 6 months (£22 thereafter) + Line Rental

1Gig BB + Phone
PRICE: £22 per month for 6 months (£47 thereafter) + Line Rental