Gigaclear Confirm Phase 2 FTTP Broadband Rollout in Gloucestershire UK

Fibre optic ISP Gigaclear has today announced which areas will be the first to benefit from the second phase of the Fastershire project in Gloucestershire, which will see their ultrafast 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP) network being extended to thousands of additional rural premises.

The state aid supported Fastershire scheme has already helped an extra 96,516 premises in both Gloucestershire and Herefordshire to be put within reach of faster broadband, albeit mostly via Openreach’s (BT) slower ‘up to’ 80Mbps Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) service. However the project’s overall aim isn’t very specific and merely states “that by 2018 there will be access to fast broadband for all who need it“.

On top of that Gigaclear also holds the contract to roll-out their ultrafast FTTP network to 6,495 premises in the Cotswolds area, with a second contract expanding this to 2,600 premises in the Forest of Dean (Gloucestershire) and Golden Valley (Herefordshire). Some 5,000 of the 6,495 premises in the Cotswolds deployment have already been covered and this should complete during the coming summer.

Gigaclear has since added to its haul by picking up a major Phase 2 roll-out contract for both counties (here), which over the next few years could benefit a further 35,000 premises (8,000 of these will be in Herefordshire). Today the ISP has confirmed that Elmstone Hardwicke, Stoke Orchard, Deerhurst, Portway and Brookthorpe will be among the first to benefit from the next phase.

Lynden Stowe, Gloucestershire Cabinet Member for Economy, said:

“Faster broadband is vital for our communities and businesses to thrive and grow. I’m delighted that the Fastershire project, in partnership with Gigaclear, will be taking faster broadband to even more homes and businesses in some of the most rural areas of the county where larger suppliers were not prepared to go without public investment.”

Joe Frost, Gigaclear’s Business Development Director, added:

“We are delighted to be providing a futureproof network to local people, which will improve the quality of their lives for work, entertainment, communications and play! Thousands of properties in the Cotswolds have already been connected to our ultrafast broadband service on time and in budget thanks to the Fastershire project.

We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Gloucestershire County Council through Phase 2 and look forward to welcoming these new communities to our network. There is no doubt that this will continue to be socially and economically transformative for these rural areas.”

The new roll-out phase is due to begin this summer (when the original contract completes), although it’s interesting to note that many of the properties in some of the aforementioned communities (e.g. Stoke Orchard and Brookthorpe) already appear to have access to Openreach’s FTTC based hybrid-fibre network. We assume that Gigaclear will focus on connecting those that BT missed.

A more detailed roll-out schedule is expected to be published shortly, which will be handy because the local authority still hasn’t fleshed out precisely what has been agreed for the area. At present the overall coverage of “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) networks in both counties still appears to be sitting just shy of the initial 90% goal (it’s at about 90% in Gloucestershire already, but only around 83% in Herefordshire).