Cider Helps TrueSpeed Extend 1Gbps FTTP Broadband in Somerset

Residents in the rural Somerset (England) communities of Sandford and Churchill will soon access ultrafast broadband speeds after UK ISP Truespeed Communications completed the build a new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, which was needed in order to connect the local Thatchers Cider business.

The provider, which has set itself an aspiration of covering 75,000 premises by 2021 and possibly 200,000 by 2025, is currently deploying their network across rural parts of South West England (i.e. Devon, Gloucestershire , Herefordshire , Somerset and Wiltshire) and has already covered several thousand premises (here). Much of their initial roll-out was focused on the Chew Valley region but they’re also going beyond that.

Despite being a fairly young provider the ISP was last year able to secure a huge investment of £75m from Aviva Investors to expand their network (here), which is helping to power their network expansion plans. As part of this work they were recently able to build their “full fibre” cables to cater for Thatchers Cider in the community of Sandford.

The knock-on impact of that work also helped extend internet access to the entire local community, by pushing it over the 30% sign-up threshold (demand-led) at which TrueSpeed begins its network build. This means that TrueSpeed will now enable the entire community to connect to its network, as well as equipping local schools and village halls with “free broadband for life“.

Residents in the large rural village just up the road in Churchill (population of around 2,200) will also benefit from the same infrastructure.

Evan Wienburg, CEO of TrueSpeed, told ISPreview.co.uk:

“Connecting rural businesses like Thatchers to a 21st century broadband service that will last for generations is vital for a thriving digital economy. As more people choose to live and work outside of the main conurbations, and working from home becomes more prevalent, access to full fibre broadband that lets people collaborate should be seen as a right, not a privilege.”

Ian Dorling, Head of IT at Thatchers Cider, said:

“We’re thrilled to be joining forces with another pioneering local business to help secure a better digital future for our local community.. Plus the TrueSpeed service will open up a whole new world of connectivity for Thatchers, giving us access to secure, full fibre broadband and ensuring our business runs smoothly at all times.”

Just to help illustrate the ISP’s progress, back in the spring of this year we were told that they had covered around 3,000 premises and today’s update states that they’re now “on course” to pass more than 12,000 premises by this autumn (we think that could mean the end of this autumn rather than the start).

In terms of products, residential customers pay from £47.50 a month for a 200Mbps symmetric speed broadband package with unlimited usage on an 18 month contract term. The standard installation charge is £120 but this may vary depending upon the location.

We should point out that slower “superfast” (FTTC etc.) style services are already available to some parts of the same area, although TrueSpeed are obviously offering something far faster and more reliable.