Hyperoptic Target 1Gbps FTTB Broadband for 100K Premises in Brent

Urban fibre optic UK ISP Hyperoptic, which has already deployed their 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Building (FTTP/B) network to over 400,000 premises in parts of 28 UK cities, has announced that 100,000 homes and businesses in the London Borough of Brent will soon become the next to benefit.

The provider’s normal approach focuses upon connecting their fibre optic based network to large residential or office buildings in dense urban areas (e.g. Multi-Dwelling Units with at least 50 units), although they have recently expanded to do a few new build housing estates and council (social) homes. Overall they aim to cover 500,000 premises by 2019, followed by 2 million in 2022 and there’s an aspiration for 5 million by 2025 (here).

Hyperoptic’s largest deployment base has always been in London and indeed they’ve already reached 2,000 premises in Brent, although a partnership has now been agreed with Brent Council that will enable them to connect a further 14,500 residential homes in the authority’s housing portfolio.

As a result of all this their wider network will also pass an additional 85,500 homes and businesses in the borough (roughly 80% of residential premises and 50% of businesses in Brent).

Tim Huxtable, Hyperoptic’s Head of Public Sector and Social Housing, said:

“Hyperoptic has been committed to Brent for many years, consequently it is already one of the better connected boroughs in the UK. We commend Brent for being such a strong, forward-thinking council and for appreciating the added economic and social benefits to be gained by providing the option of full fibre to both its social and private constituents.

The service has to be experienced to be believed. The difference in experience is like chalk and cheese – at 29.4Mbps a 50GB game would take nearly four hours to download, but just seven minutes with our gigabit connection. So far over 35% of the borough’s owned social residential sites have registered interest for our services – we look forward to delivering on this demand.”

Cllr Margaret McLennan, Deputy Leader of Brent Council, said:

“As Britain steps into an increasingly digital future, the need for fast broadband has grown rapidly over the past decade. I’m thrilled that Brent is leading the way in providing access to high-speed broadband for residents and businesses in agreement with Hyperoptic. We want to offer residents and business better choices when it comes to getting online, and access for those who may otherwise be unable to afford it.

The council works hard to ensure ease of access for everyone who uses our services, regardless of whether they’re online or not, but we know the vast majority of people are online now. That’s why we’re bringing access to a high-speed broadband network to the majority of residents and businesses in the coming years. We believe that for many, access to the Internet isn’t just a luxury, but a necessity.”

As part of this the ISP has pledged to provide “free connectivity” in a number of community centres around Brent, which will also offer a series of free digital training workshops. Hyperoptic now expects to commence wide-scale deployment across the borough in Q4 2018.

Customers will be able to choose from either a broadband and phone bundle or a broadband-only service on a 12 month contract (the latter usually attracts a £40 one-off connection fee). You can also get a “no contract” option (broadband-only), although this tends to cost a little extra per month.

The packages also include unlimited usage, 24/7 support, a wireless router and dynamic IP address (IPv6 support is being rolled out) or £5 for a Static IP. The current offer pricing is as follows.

* This denotes the monthly price you will pay after the first 12 month contract is over.