Parent of London Wireless Broadband ISP Relish Suffers GBP37.5m Loss

The generically named UK Broadband Ltd., a sibling of Hong Kong based telecoms firm PCCW (HKT) and the company behind London fixed wireless ISP Relish, has reportedly been given one year to turn itself around after losses for 2014 quadrupled to £37.5m on a turnover of just £1.5m vs £2m in 2013.

The company has tried for many years to launch a successful fixed wireless broadband provider in the United Kingdom, albeit with mixed results. Some years back they made their first attempt with an ISP called ‘Netvigator’, which later became known simply as ‘Now’, although this only covered premises in Reading (England) and ended up being discontinued in 2009 (here).

However the Now brand was revived again in 2012 (here) as part of a move to switch-on the country’s first 4G (LTE) based Fixed Wireless system for commercial services in parts of Reading and London (Southbank and the borough areas of Southwark), although this too was eventually paused until it was renamed and relaunched again as Relish last June 2014.

The newly re-branded service from Relish, which operates in the somewhat niche 3.4GHz and up spectrum bands (high capacity, but challenging for coverage and penetration through buildings), focused on offering unlimited broadband speeds of up to 50Mbps to homes in central London from just £20 per month (no phone line required).

The development was useful because there are still a fair few “slow spots” in the area where Relish operates, but despite that the ISP has struggled with some notorious teething problems (e.g. frequent connection drops) and will find it increasingly difficult to fight in an environment where local fixed line broadband connectivity is very gradually improving (example).

At this point UKB’s long held dream of being able to launch a national fixed wireless network across the UK continues to be a distant aspiration and one that appears to exist upon shaky foundations. The latest losses certainly won’t help matters, although it should be said that you’d expect a big loss in the first year of a new service because of the necessary early investment.

According to The Telegraph, UKB’s latest accounts included the following statement: “If there was insufficient customer demand for the proposed new services at price levels the company finds economically viable, an alternative business plan may have to be developed.”

The availability of continued funding from PCCW is another crucial factor and it’s understood that UKB has been given at least another year to turn the company’s fortunes around. Once again the directors claim to be confident that their plan will work, but it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve heard that.