ISP Entanet Offers 1Gbps Full Fibre Ethernet Burst for £199 +vat

Entanet has announced that businesses within reach of their parent company’s (Cityfibre) Dark Fibre network, which is present in parts of over 50 cities across the United Kingdom, can now order their Ethernet Flex service for just £199 +vat per month. This offers a guaranteed rate of 200Mbps (symmetric) but can burst to 1Gbps.

The connection uses a Software Defined Network (SDN) setup to control the connection, which the wholesale provider claims will remove “the need for [end users] to even think about requesting bandwidth changes through a portal or incurring additional charges.” By the sounds of it you’ll get a 200Mbps connection but one that adapts up to 1Gbps automatically, as required.

Paul North, Entanet’s Head of Sales, said (here): “Our partners can give them a dedicated 1Gbps bearer at an incredible fixed price no matter how much they use it.” Apparently all of this will be backed up by a Service Level Agreement (SLA), rapid return to service guarantee and 24/7 UK support. Assuming this is based off Cityfibre’s existing Ethernet 1000 Flex product then it should enjoy a standard 5 hour repair SLA.

Paul North added:

“We believe this is a game changer for the industry and at £199 per month enables partners to give fantastic value to their customers. Most SMEs want a fast and reliable connection that allows them to carry out their daily activities and our new service gives them the flexibility they need in an increasingly digital economy that relies on cloud computing and remote solutions.

Ethernet Flex 1Gbps is also underpinned by our comprehensive Service Level Agreement (SLA), rapid return to service guarantee and 24/7 UK support from our technical specialists to give businesses solid confidence in their connection.”

The announcement makes no solid mention of any limit on how long you can burst to 1Gbps but it does use the words “accommodating occasional need” to describe the top speed, which suggests that there may be a caveat somewhere.

However upon closer inspection we do note that the price of £199 (Entanet’s partners may add extra costs on top for other things) is only available until September 30th, although they don’t say how much it will cost thereafter.