Hyperoptic Extend 1Gbps Broadband Network to 13th UK City – Brighton

Pure fibre optic ISP Hyperoptic has this morning announced that their Gigabit (1000Mbps) capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP/B) broadband network is now being expanded to a 13th “hyper-city“, Brighton in East Sussex (England).

Hyperoptic’s service, which generally prefers to focus on connecting big apartments (i.e. Multi-Dwelling-Units with at least 50 units) or office blocks, is already being deployed in London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Bristol, Reading, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham and Newcastle.

However today’s announcement represents the first new city to be added on to the ISP’s list since 2014 and we’re informed that its services are already live in Brighton’s Sussex Heights Development, which is the tallest residential building on the south coast of England.

A number of other Brighton developments are also undergoing installation and Hyperoptic claims that “thousands of Brighton citizens” could benefit by the end of 2016, which will no doubt support their long-held goal of expanding coverage to 500,000 premises by 2018 (we’ve recently been told that this is still their aim, despite a lack of new coverage data).

Philip Cooper, Hyperoptic’s South East Director, said:

“Brighton is renowned for being home to one of the most vibrant digital scenes in the UK. For digital communities to thrive it is imperative that they have the infrastructure that will help, rather than hinder, their development. Brighton has been on our radar as our next hyper-city for over a year – we have already been inundated with demand from developments, residents and businesses that want access to the fastest broadband in the UK so we are thrilled to announce that we are officially adding it our hyper-city club.”

It’s worth pointing out that Brighton is already very well served by “ultrafast” (200-300Mbps) packages from cable broadband provider Virgin Media. Meanwhile BT’s FTTC (VDSL) based “fibre broadband” network also has a good presence in the area, albeit delivering slower speeds. However there are some of gaps in the coverage that can be exploited and Hyperoptic wouldn’t be investing unless they saw a viable business opportunity.

Otherwise the ISP tends to offer both a broadband + phone bundle or a standalone broadband (no phone) alternative, with the latter usually attracting a setup fee of £40. Meanwhile their phone bundles don’t have such a charge, but you still need to add the cost of Line Rental (£16 inc. VAT per month) on top. A summary of the latest deals can be found below.

Standalone Broadband (No Phone Service)

20Mbps Fibre Broadband
PRICE: £10 per month for 6 months (£22 thereafter) + £40 Setup Fee

100Mbps Fibre Broadband
PRICE: £17 per month for 6 months (£35 thereafter) + £40 Setup Fee

1Gig Fibre Broadband
PRICE: £29 per month for 6 months (£60 thereafter) + £40 Setup Fee

Broadband and Phone Bundle

20Mbps BB + Phone
PRICE: £4 per month for 6 months (£9 thereafter) + Line Rental

100Mbps BB + Phone
PRICE: £10 per month for 6 months (£22 thereafter) + Line Rental

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

The packages also include a free Hyper-hub wireless router, free installation (bundles), unlimited usage, 12 month contract and 24/7 customer support. Also take note that the 20Mbps package includes a 1Mbps upload speed, while the faster packages offer the same speed in both directions (symmetrical).

Hyperoptic also offers a no contract variant of their packages, which is usually around +£2-£4 more expensive per month.