Hyperoptic in FTTP Rollout with London’s Largest Housing Association

UK ISP Hyperoptic, which specialises in building 1Gbps capable “full fibre” (FTTP/B) broadband networks for large residential (MDU) or office buildings, has today confirmed a new agreement that will see them connect a “large proportion” of homes for L&Q, which is the largest housing association in London.

At present L&Q owns and manages more than 90,000 homes across London and the South East (i.e. Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire) – making it the largest landlord in the capital and one of the largest residential property developers in the UK. The association also has an aspiration to enable 100,000 new homes.

Meanwhile Hyperoptic’s gigabit fibre network is currently present in parts of 43 UK towns and cities across well over 400,000 premises, including a large number in London, although they have previously expressed an ambition to cover 2 million UK premises by the end of 2021, followed by 5 million come the end of 2024 (mostly in urban areas). But we haven’t had a progress update on this ambition for a while.

Unfortunately we aren’t told precisely how big Hyperoptic’s deployment with L&Q will be but the rollout “will start immediately.” In addition to providing connectivity, the ISP will also be running a digital inclusion programme. It will be working with L&Q to identify tenants that lack IT skills so that they can be offered free training to learn how to use the internet to access vital online support services.

Liam McAvoy, Hyperoptic’s Senior Director of Business Development, said:

“Bringing London up to speed has been a strategic priority for Hyperoptic since its inception. Partnering with London’s largest landlord will enable us to expediate our roll out across London and give even more people access to a service they can depend upon, no matter what day it or how many people are connected.”

Gerri Scott, L&Q Group Director of Customer Services, said:

“Connectivity has never been more important, it underpins so much of life today. This is why are pleased to partner with such a progressive broadband provider, which is able to offer our residents a choice of reliable, fast and affordable products, which will enable them to take advantage of everything the Internet has to offer. With a full fibre connection from Hyperoptic, our properties will also be future-proofed for decades to come.”

Customers typically pay from around £22 per month for an unlimited 50Mbps service and this goes up to £49 for 1Gbps (symmetric speed) on a 12-month minimum contract term (discounts applied), although some of their other deployments have also included a free connectivity option for residents and visitors (e.g. community WiFi).