17000 Homes in Hammersmith and Fulham Targeted for 1Gbps Broadband

UK ISP Community Fibre has today announced the signing of a new “master wayleave” agreement, which could see their 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband network being extended to cover over 17,000+ properties owned by the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.

The provider, which targets council managed blocks (apartments etc.) and last year secured £11.3m of private equity investment (here) to help support their long-term aspiration of covering 500,000 homes in London (here), has already reached thousands of homes around Battersea, Wandsworth and Roehampton (c.10,000 premises and rising).

However today’s news will extend their deployment into Hammersmith & Fulham, with the first stage of the rollout taking place around the White City Estate. This expansion is expected to reach over 2,000 homes and will allegedly make it the “largest full fibre connected estate in Hammersmith, and one of the largest in London” (i.e. ahead of Churchill Gardens in Westminster, which is also connected by Community Fibre).

Jeremy Chelot, Chief Executive of Community Fibre, told ISPreview.co.uk:

“We are delighted to be working with Hammersmith & Fulham to bring Gigabit services to properties in the area. Hammersmith and Fulham have made it easy for Community Fibre to bring this expansion to reality, showing how innovative and committed they are to bring the best connectivity to the residents in the borough.

In 2018, Community Fibre plans to bring full-fibre connections to more than 50,000 properties across London (20% in Hammersmith & Fulham) and providing more Londoners with the Internet they deserve.”

Apparently local residents can expect to receive a letter informing them about the works starting in the first part of January 2018. These are expected to be finished in the Spring, with residents able to register their interest and sign-up to services as Community Fibre expands across the area.

Existing packages tend to start at just £20 per month for a 20Mbps (1Mbps upload) service and rise to £50 for a fully symmetric 1000Mbps connection, which includes free installation and unlimited usage. The ISP may also be making use of Openreach’s Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product in order to help deliver the coverage. No additional line rental payment is required.