Rural FTTP ISP County Broadband Extends to Cambridgeshire

Rural UK ISP County Broadband, which is being fuelled by £46m from Aviva to deploy a new 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across the rural East of England, has announced their first expansion into South Cambridgeshire, where they initially plan to build across 9 hard to reach villages.

The provider began their demand-led (i.e. requires interest from 30% of premises in each community) roll-out last year around rural Essex (here), which was followed by patches of south west Norfolk. At the time they also hinted at a plan to extend their network into parts of Cambridgeshire.

Until today some 50 villages were in their initial build plan until Q2 2020 (c.15,000 total homes passed) and the operator’s future aim is to cover a total of 40,000 20,000 premises by the end of 2020. However these have now been joined by 9 rural villages in South Cambridgeshire, with more set to be announced later in the year.

At this stage County Broadband have not publicly named the new villages, perhaps partly because of fears that rivals may then target them. Likewise their final build plan still depends upon locals expressing enough demand for the service before work can begin.

Lloyd Felton, CEO of County Broadband, said:

“Whilst Cambridgeshire is already ahead of some parts of the country when it comes to full-fibre broadband, there is still a long way to go as many communities and businesses still rely on an outdated, copper-based infrastructure.

Changing consumer habits and increased data reliance from the rise of online streaming, combined with an increasing number of services from health to education moving online means that future-ready internet connectivity is now an essential. The installation of Hyperfast full-fibre networks will provide a real boost to the regions’ economy and unlock new growth opportunities for businesses and attract new investment opportunities.”

Councillor Ian Bates said:

“Cambridgeshire is a leading digital county and we know how important it is to have fast, reliable Internet access wherever you are.

It’s vital for our businesses to be able to compete, for our communities to thrive, and for people to access council services online. We welcome County Broadband’s commitment to investing in gigabit-capable services for rural villages in Cambridgeshire, which supports our ambition to extend full fibre coverage across the county to deliver better connectivity. Our Enabling Digital Delivery team is helping to ensure the rollout progresses as quickly as possible.”

Assuming all goes to plan then CB will begin installing the new service during late 2020.