New Full Fibre UK ISP Gigaloch Surfaces to Connect Rural Areas

A new Fife-based “full fibre” broadband ISP called Gigaloch (Optilec) has recently surfaced, which appears to have plans to deploy their own gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across rural parts of the United Kingdom, albeit seemingly focused more on England and Scotland.

According to Companies House, Gigaloch was incorporated in Scotland (Glenrothes, Fife) on 27th May 2020 with £100 worth of shares. The company’s sole Director is John Colton, who is also a Director of various other organisations including Optilec, Lucid Optical Services, Lucid Training Limited and the Fibreoptic Industry Association (FIA).

The existence of this provider first came to light after they approached the Fibre for Ashton Hayes, Horton cum Peel, Mouldsworth & Manley (F4AMM) project in rural Cheshire with a proposal to help connect the area to a full fibre service. The F4AMM campaign is currently developing an Openreach based Community Fibre Partnership (CFP), but Gigaloch believe they can do the work sooner and for a lower cost.

On top of that we’ve separately been able to confirm that they’re already working with the Government’s (DCMS / BDUK) rural gigabit voucher scheme.

Anthony Jones, F4AMM, said:

I received an email this morning from Paul Walker from Optilec who knows our area well. Paul has informed me that his company and team have already got the designs and funding to install full fibre to the properties in Manley, Mouldsworth and Ashton Hayes.

What they really need to know is if there is a demand for full fibre in our area. They are aware that Openreach Community Fibre Partnership is live in our area, however they believe they can build a network cheaper and faster than Openreach can.

If there is a large demand they also state thay can start the build before Christmas!

According to the feedback we’ve had, Gigaloch claims to have already begun building in two locations – Mollington and Stamford Bridge (we assume these are the communities around Chester – others exist with the same names), as well as some other communities in Scotland. As we understand it these are community-led schemes, which could also include a degree of self-build by volunteers (some similarities to B4RN’s model).

The provider’s website doesn’t give much away, but it does state that associated communities should also benefit from a “free hyperfast” connection for local schools, village halls and churches. On top of that they’ve committed for 10% of their annual profits to be allocated to local good causes.

“We are a new business that is both ethical and community spirited. Gigaloch is a company registered in Scotland to deliver broadband services on a commercial basis. We have investors willing to invest large sums (into the millions of pounds Sterling) to get full fibre broadband to rural areas. We need both this investment and the support of local communities to help us to achieve our aims,” states their website.

The website states that local residents will be offered a 1Gbps service for just £35 per month on a 12-month term (the ISP also promises to lock this price for five years). On top of that the first year of service would be free, which doesn’t sound like an economically sensible tactic for a rural FTTP network build, but if the goal is to attract demand then that will surely help. We look forward to seeing what they can deliver over the next year.