Hyperoptic – 1Gbps Broadband for Thousands of Thurrock Social Housing Tenants

Urban fibre optic ISP Hyperoptic has today reached yet another social housing agreement, which means that “thousands” of homes in Thurrock (Essex) will soon gain access to their ultrafast 1Gbps capable FTTP/B based broadband network. A special £9 a month 5Mbps option will also be offered.

The new service will initially be made available to 1,700 tenants across 12 of the council’s developments (see below), with the first installation work expected to start during this summer 2017 (prioritised by resident demand). Today’s announcement follows a similar arrangement with Nottingham City Homes (NCH), which was announced at the end of last month (here).

The 12 Buildings
* Arthur Toft, George Crooks and Lionel Oxley House
* Bevan and Morrison House
* Brisbane, Freemantle and Tasmania House
* Butler, Davall and Greenwood House
* Chieftan Drive
* Clayburn Gardens
* Cranell Green
* George Tilbury, Gooderham and Poole House
* Keir Hardie House
* Marine and River Court
* Perth House
* Seabrooke Rise

Hyperoptic typically offers a choice of three premium packages (20Mbps, 100Mbps and 1Gbps), although in this instance they’ve also designed a bespoke entry-level product (Fibre Light) specifically for Thurrock Council’s residents. The package costs just £9 per month for a standalone 5Mbps broadband service and that’s just about the cheapest fixed line broadband service we’ve ever seen (except it’s only available to a tiny number of people).

Steve Holford, Hyperoptic’s Chief Customer Officer, said:

“For digital inclusion programmes to succeed the priority must be the provision of ultrafast, reliable and affordable broadband – unfettered Internet connectivity removes barriers and enables limitless possibilities. Our full fibre connectivity is world-class and the experience is second-to-none.

Working with Councils to give their social housing tenants the UK’s best Internet experience is a strategic priority for us – we are pioneering the shift to Gigabit Britain and the public sector has a huge role to play in making this happen as soon as possible.”

Cllr Shane Hebb, Finance and Legal at Thurrock Council, said:

“We are very pleased to be teaming up with Hyperoptic to help every resident in council accommodation have the same access the fastest broadband speed available in the UK today, as those living in private properties.

The Council is neither financially up nor down through this work, but it has supported Hyperoptic develop an affordable package to areas which are highly populated in a bid to keep hundreds of Thurrock residents better connected.”

All of this will help to support Hyperoptic’s goal of extending the reach of their network to over 500,000 UK “homes” by the end of 2018 2019. The ISP tends to focus most of their deployments on big office blocks and large apartment buildings (i.e. Multi-Dwelling-Units with at least 50 units), although they are clearly branching out a bit.

Customers can choose from either a broadband and phone bundle or a standlone broadband-only service on a 12 month contract (attracts no connection fee). You can also get a “no contract” option of both but that attracts a one-off connection fee of £40 and the monthly price is higher.

All of the packages include unlimited usage, 24/7 support, an included wireless router and a dynamic IP address (CGNAT) or add £5 extra per month for a Static IP instead.

Bundles (first 3 months free)

20Mb Fibre Broadband & Phone
Price: £25 a month

100Mb Fibre Broadband & Phone
Price: £38 a month

1Gb Fibre Broadband & Phone
Price: £63 a month

Standalone (first 3 months free)

20Mb Fibre Broadband Only
Price: £22 a month

100Mb Fibre Broadband Only
Price: £35 a month

1Gb Fibre Broadband Only
Price: £60 a month