Swish Fibre Expands Full Fibre Rollout in South Buckinghamshire

UK ISP Swish Fibre, which is working to deploy a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to cover 250,000 premises in the Home Counties, has signed an agreement with civil engineering firm MGM Utilities that will see them extend into Gerrards Cross and Bourne End (South Buckinghamshire).

Just to recap. Swish Fibre was acquired by Fern Trading (they also own Jurassic Fibre in the South West of England) at the end of 2019, which formed part of a “long-term funding deal” that they said would enable them to unlock £250m of investment (here). Last year Swish unveiled a list of the 33 towns where they intend to deploy (SF’s rollout plan) and they plan to be live in 10 of those by June 2021.

So far most of the provider’s initial build has tended to focus on Marlow, although Gerrards Cross and Bourne End were also among those named on their original list of 11 initial deployment locations. Today’s news confirms that MGM Utilities has already commenced initial construction work in Gerrards Cross, while work is due to start in Bourne End “shortly.”

Brice Yharrassarry, CEO of Swish Fibre, said:

“Our goal is to build partnerships with our suppliers to deliver Full Fibre networks and MGM Utilities have demonstrated these qualities in Marlow. Against the backdrop and challenges of the pandemic, our teams have worked together to redefine working practises to align to stringent COVID-19 regulations. We now look forward to accelerating work in Gerrards Cross with MGM starting civils work in Bourne End very soon.”

Michael Channing, MD of MGM Utilities, said:

“We are delighted to be awarded the Gerrards Cross and Bourne End contracts. Over the last 12 months our management and in-house civils, PIA and fibre teams have worked extremely hard and closely with Swish in unprecedented times to deliver a high quality full turnkey network in Marlow. This has undoubtedly led to these contract awards. MGM are extremely proud and excited to be working with Swish.”

The aforementioned list of locations has been re-pasted again below, although it’s worth noting that Swish will face competition from rival gigabit networks in some of these areas (e.g. Gigaclear in Sevenoaks and Virgin Media in East Grinstead).

Customers typically pay from £45 per month for their unlimited 400Mbps (average speed) package, which rises to £75 if you want their top 900Mbps plan. A one-off £50 activation fee is also payable.

Swish’s 33 Rollout Locations

First 11 Locations (December 2019)
Marlow
Gerrards Cross
Beaconsfield
Flackwell Heath
Wooburn Green and Bourne End
Hazlemere
Great Missenden
Thame
Chinnor
Princes Risborough
Haddenham

Next 22 Locations (June 2020)
Alton
Ascot
Banbury
Bagshot
Bordon
Buckingham
Corsham
Cranleigh
Crawley Down
Crowborough
East Grinstead
Farnham
Godalming
Haywards Heath
Heathfield
Liphook
Lindford
Marlborough
Penn
Sevenoaks
Southwater
Uckfield