WightFibre FTTH Broadband Rollout Reaches 15,000 Homes

Broadband ISP WightFibre, which is currently investing £35m to deploy a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband network on the Isle of Wight (South Coast of Hampshire), has now passed a total of 20,000 premises (15,000 of those are live) in their on-going build programme.

As we understand it the operator’s current target is to cover 30,000 homes by the end of 2020 and then 55,000 by the end of 2021, which – once businesses are included – is actually a little short of their original 2017 target. But John Irvine, WightFibre CEO, recently told ISPreview.co.uk that he now expects they can go beyond this to reach, potentially, 66,000 premises by the end of 2022 and possibly even 71,000 by 2025 (effectively the entire island, provided the conditions are right).

Admittedly at times it can be a little difficult to follow WF’s progress as they tend to confuse some of their figures. For example, today’s press release headlines with “15,000 homes ready for full-fibre service,” yet directly below that it says “passes 20,000 homes milestone” and then below that we get, “available for service to over 15,000 homes and businesses on the island.” Figuring out what’s part-built fibre, what’s live fibre and what figure includes homes or both homes and businesses isn’t always easy.

Nevertheless it’s clear that the operator is making very good progress and are now well into their main build phase. Apparently homes throughout Ryde, Sandown, Wootton, Cowes, Gurnard, Northwood, East Cowes, Newport and surrounding areas, including Carisbrooke, are among some of the first to benefit.

John Irvine, WightFibre CEO, said:

“This is a significant milestone in our project and demonstrates the project is well underway and on track to deliver full-fibre broadband across the whole island. Parts of Ryde and Sandown are included in the 15 000 homes passed and work is already underway to connect parts of Shanklin in the next couple of months as well.

WightFibre’s point to point full-fibre network (where every home gets its own dedicated fibre optic cable rather than sharing with others) is fairly unique in the UK and will set the island apart from others allowing WightFibre to deliver an amazing customer experience.”

Prices for the new service range from £21.49 per month for their unlimited entry-level 50Mbps (symmetric speed) “full fibre” package and all the way up to £68.49 for 900Mbps+, which includes free installation. The top two packages also receive free WholeHome WiFi powered by Plume (normally that add-on costs £9.25 extra per month).