ISP Spectrum Internet Launch 1Gbps Openreach FTTP for Homes

UK ISP Spectrum Internet, which tends to focus on catering for Wales and some bits of South West England, appears to have become one of the first broadband providers to launch products for home users based off Openreach’s premium 500Mbps and 1000Mbps FTTP tiers. But you’ll need deep pockets.

Officially Openreach launched their Gigabit “full fibre” tier, as well as a 500Mbps option, all the way back in 2016 (here). At the time the network access provider said that their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) tiers up to 330Mbps were aimed at residential connectivity, while the new / faster tiers were positioned more as premium business connections.

Nevertheless it took wholesale suppliers over a year before they were ready to actually offer the new tiers to ISPs, which finally happened last month (here). The good news, as spotted by Thinkbroadband, is that Spectrum Internet has now become the first provider to offer related packages and surprisingly they’ve even created an option for residential customers, but it’s not cheap.

The activation fee (one-off) for the two new tiers is an eye watering £599, which covers a standard installation and you also receive a Zyxel VMG3925-B10B router. The packages also appear to offer unlimited usage and come attached to a 12 month contract term. However if you’d rather go with one of their 330Mbps or slower packages then the activation is just £119.

Full Fibre Broadband 500Mbps (Down) / 165Mbps (Upload)
PRICE: £69 a month for the first 6 months (£99 thereafter)

Full Fibre Broadband 1000Mbps (Down) / 220Mbps (Upload)
PRICE: £99 a month for the first 6 months (£159 thereafter)

The faster FTTP tiers use XGPON technology and so won’t yet be available across Openreach’s entire estate (only their recent and future deployments). On top of that Spectrum Internet has in the past preferred to only deal with orders for the regions where they operate and so you may need to call them directly in order to confirm whether they can serve you (assuming you’re in an Openreach FTTP area).

As it stands the FTTP service is currently only available to a tiny proportion of UK premises and so the vast majority of consumers are not yet covered.