Funding Boost Helps Lightning Fibre Deploy FTTP in South East

New UK ISP Lightning Fibre, which last year started to rollout a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across the inner Eastbourne area of East Sussex (here), has today secured an undisclosed investment boost from independent infrastructure and private equity firm Foresight.

The operator’s original strategy hinted at a plan to cover 50,000+ premises across parts of East Sussex by around the end of 2023, although today’s announcement will see their deployment target being increased to over 100,000 premises (no date is mentioned for when this will be achieved). Lightning Fibre will build, install and operate this new full fibre infrastructure across the region.

At present we don’t know exactly how many premises they’ve reached in Eastbourne since the work started last year, although the new announcement confirms that the coastal town of Hastings has also been added to their initial plan. At present Hastings doesn’t have much in terms of gigabit-capable rivals, but Openreach do have a few tiny spots of FTTP coverage and Zzoomm originally mentioned the town as a possible future target.

Sadly, we don’t know how much funding Foresight will pump into Lightning Fibre, but we assume this to be a multi-million-pound deal given the addition of another c.50,000 premises to their original deployment plan. The focus is largely on areas that have yet to benefit from gigabit capable broadband connectivity.

Helen Downie, Foresight’s Senior Investment Manager, said:

“We are impressed by the ambition of the management team and the progress Lightning Fibre has already made in bringing hyperfast broadband connectivity to businesses and homes in East Sussex. We are pleased to be able to play an active part in the development of this important digital infrastructure project that will support the competitiveness of UK plc and a robust recovery from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

At Foresight, we are committed to investing for a smarter future, creating a sustainable legacy for future generations.”

Ben Ferriman, CEO of Lightning Fibre, added:

“The backing received from Foresight is a great endorsement of the management team and the company. With funding now secured, we can accelerate our build programme in Eastbourne and Hastings providing multi-gigabit Full Fibre broadband to everyone we pass. Lightning Fibre builds high quality networks and delivers to our customers a high-quality service at an affordable and competitive price.

We strongly believe in our regional strategy and that starts with levelling up Eastbourne and Hastings.”

Residential customers who join the service pay from £40 per month for an unlimited symmetric speed 100Mbps package on a 24-month contract term (plus £100 one-off for the setup), which apparently comes with a 10Gbps capable “modem” and Mesh WiFi system. The top 1000Mbps plan pushes this to £60 and gives you a free setup. A VoIP (phone) service also appears to be available. A shorter 12 and 1-month term also exists, at extra cost.

Foresight’s advisers on this deal included Acuity Advisors, CMS and Analysys Mason. Meanwhile Lightning Fibre was advised by EMC Corporate Finance and DMH Stallard.