Communications provider MS3 has announced that their new “ultrafast” Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH/P) based broadband ISP network in West Hull (East Yorkshire, England) – connectHull – has finally connected its first homes in a trial area that covers roughly 1,200 premises.
The ambitious new network, which is setting itself up to be a direct competitor with KCOM’s rival FTTP network in the local market (here and here) that aims to cover 150,000 premises by December 2017, officially entered the roll-out stage in November 2016 and this initial deployment in West Hull is supported by an investment of £500,000.
MS3 expects the roll-out to cost roughly £500 per home passed (similar to the joint Cityfibre / TalkTalk deployment in York) and the trial area should be complete by this Easter. Locations around Calvert Lane, Hamlyn Avenue, Cardigan Road, Meadowbank Road, Roslyn Road, Morris Road, Woldcarr Road, Northfield Road, Springfield Road and Parkfield Drive are among the first to benefit.
Assuming all goes to plan then connectHull hopes to have covered 250 streets across the city by the end of 2017 and after that they intend to deploy at a rate of 20,000+ homes per year, which at some point is sure to cross paths with KCOM. In other words a number of areas may benefit from a choice of two FTTH/P providers. Now that would be impressive.
Tony Hales, MS3’s Managing Director, said (Hull Daily Mail):
“It is fantastic to see the first homes enjoying our ultrafast broadband service – ConnectHull. We’re committed to delivering a true alternative choice for broadband to homes in Hull and we’ve had a great take-up from residents within the trial area.”
Apparently the next phase of deployment after trial completion will focus on locations around parts of Sutton Park, East Hull and Kingswood. However connectHull’s packages do suffer from a similar problem to KCOM’s more affordable options, which reflects a focus on capped usage allowances and these tend to hinder the performance benefits of FTTH/P connections.
Prices start from just £24.99 inc. VAT per month (no phone line rental required) for the 50Mbps service (10Mbps upload) and this will only attract a monthly rolling contract, although it is hobbled by a 200GB download limit. Meanwhile the top 1Gbps (100Mbps upload) package attracts a 1000GB (1TB) allowance for £59.99. However KCOM do offer “unlimited” options, albeit at extra cost.
The foundation for all this is of course the business-focused FTTP/H network that MS3 built a few years ago, which is completely independent of KCOM and stretches over 40km across Hull and East Yorkshire.
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