TrueSpeed to Build Gigabit Broadband for 7000 Premises in Wells

Rural full fibre UK ISP TrueSpeed, which is currently rolling out a new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across parts of South West England (Somerset), has today announced that they intend to extend their network to cover 6,000 homes and 1,000 businesses in the small cathedral city of Wells.

The provider, which is being supported by an investment of £75m from Aviva Investors (here), currently aims to cover 75,000 premises in parts of rural South West England by 2021 and they hold an aspiration of reaching 200,000 by 2025 (i.e. a demand-led deployment where 30% of a community needs to sign-up).

So far most of TrueSpeeds’ initial deployments have focused upon communities in and around the rural Chew Valley area in Somerset but they also have plans to go well beyond that over time. Suffice to say that a deployment into the cathedral city of Wells and “surrounding areas” in the Mendip district of Somerset would be one of their most significant projects to date.

“The narrow roads and historic buildings in the medieval city of Wells make it a challenging location for a full fibre roll out, which is why other broadband providers have ignored the city,” said the provider. In fairness Openreach has deployed their slower FTTC (up to 80Mbps) technology across most of wells and there’s already some “ultrafast” G.fast and FTTP in some parts but not very much.

TrueSpeed believes that its tried and tested deployment methods should “overcome” the aforementioned hurdles. The firm typically connects its fibre optic cables to existing ducting and poles used for telephone and power lines (e.g. Openreach’s existing infrastructure), minimising disruption to local residents and businesses, and meeting the council’s requirement to protect the city’s heritage.

Evan Wienburg, Truespeed CEO, said:

“We are focused on bringing hard-to-connect parts of the South West into the digital fast lane – and that includes heritage cities like Wells. Our full fibre service is unique, and unlike other providers we guarantee speeds, allowing communities to enjoy hassle-free connectivity at all times.

People are important to us and working with them in their communities is at the core of how we operate. Making Wells a gigabit city is exciting and will transform the lives of thousands of people living and working in the area for generations to come.”

Robert Powell, Chairman of Wells Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, said:

“Wells will benefit enormously from Truespeed’s full fibre offering. Connectivity here is currently very poor, which is having a detrimental impact on local business. We have lots of sole traders and homeworkers who urgently need fast, reliable connectivity. Being a gigabit city will encourage business growth and also help to attract new employers to the area.”

Sadly today’s announcement doesn’t offer any indication of the time-scale for their build, although they’re running a number of local community events and Q&A sessions for local residents and businesses to find out more. For example, there will be weekly drop-in sessions at the town hall on market days until 11^th December, with more planned for the new year.

Otherwise residential customers tend to be offered a symmetrical 200Mbps (250Mbps for Home Workers) speed package with unlimited usage, an 18 month contract term, wireless router, VoIP phone service and free installation (Government vouchers allowing) that costs from £47.50 per month. A 10Gbps service is also possible for businesses.

Granted it’s not as cheap as some FTTH providers but then TrueSpeed do tend to build in some of the most challenging (expensive) rural areas and you get a good bit of speed for your money.