UPDATE Rural Broadband ISP Voneus Acquires Rival Cotswold Wireless

Alternative ISP Voneus, which has deployed their ‘up to’ 100Mbps capable “Wireless Fibre To The Home” (WFTTH) broadband network into a number of UK rural areas, has announced the acquisition of rival provider Cotswold Wireless for an undisclosed sum.

So far Voneus has already built a number of networks in rural locations across England, such as in Dunton (Bedfordshire), Priddy (Somerset) and Miserden (Gloucestershire). On top of that they also have deployments in Buckinghamshire, Devon, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The ISP recently managed to raise £5.3 million to help it grow via a “buy and build” strategy and this appears to have been put to good use with today’s acquisition.

By comparison Cotswold Wireless runs a similar sort of setup and their coverage has traditionally been focused around the Cotswolds area of central southern England, which borders with several counties (Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, as well as parts of Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire and Warwickshire). Suffice to say that both networks operate in the same sort of areas.

Steve Leighton, CEO of Voneus, said:

“Our mission is to rescue rural communities from the pain and indignity of slow broadband, without them having to wait years for Fibre. Buying Cotswold Wireless, helps accelerate this. The important thing is increased access to communities and we want to make sure the ‘digital divide’ between urban and rural areas drastically decreases so people can go about their everyday lives interruption-free.”

Tristram Charnley, Founder of Cotswold Wireless, added:

“Being part of the bigger Voneus network will give our existing customers access to new products, increased service benefits and other opportunities over time.”

Apparently deal will result in about 400 homes and businesses, which are catered for via Cotswold Wireless’s current network, being taken on by Voneus. The provider also expects this acquisition to increase the company’s capacity to connect a further 3,000 homes and businesses.

As usual it’s unclear what this means for customers who have existing contracts and packages with Cotswold Wireless, although we have asked.

UPDATE 12:05pm

Voneus has told ISPreview.co.uk that they are keen to ensure that all Cotswold customers stay with them and will look to achieve that by upgrading the core network very quickly to improve service speeds and reliability. The provider also states that they charge less than Cotswold for their unlimited service.

On top of that the provider will seek to maximise the opportunities afforded by access to Cotswold Wireless’ own infrastructure, masts and towers in order to expand its footprint further beyond the areas it already covers (i.e. heavy investment to improve the network and its coverage).