Ecom’s FTTP Broadband Goes Live in Ledburn, Buckinghamshire

UK ISP Ecom (Electronic Communities) has confirmed that the first customer has just been connected to their new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network in the rural Buckinghamshire community of Ledburn, which was achieved with help from the Government’s gigabit voucher schemes.

Last August we reported (here) that Ecom’s FTTP network, which until recently only covered a business park (Interchange Park) in Newport Pagnell, had grown to include around 250 premises in Whitchurch and some surrounding areas (e.g. Dunton, Creslow).

At the time the provider had just connected up a new full fibre cabinet outside the Parish of Mentmore (that parish includes the nearby but sparse rural hamlets of Crafton and Ledburn) and were hoping to cover 1,000 premises by the end of 2019.

Unfortunately Ecom haven’t yet been able to tell us if they ever achieved that target but the roll-out itself has, despite the COVID-19 crisis (telecoms engineers have key worker status), continued and they’ve now extended their fibre all the way into the tiny remote rural community of Ledburn (c. 2km north of Mentmore).

Meanwhile the ISP is currently accepting expressions of interest for a future expansion toward Wing and Wingrave (Buckinghamshire) and Highmoor Cross (Oxfordshire). Homes on the new network typically take packages from 300Mbps (£36 inc. VAT per month) and all the way up to 1Gbps (200Mbps upload) for £96 on a 12 month term. Meanwhile installation costs are generally covered by the Gigabit Voucher Schemes.

Admittedly this may be a smaller project than most but it’s important not to understate just how difficult it is to do what Ecom has done for some of the smallest rural communities.