ISP Trooli Boosts UK Full Fibre Coverage Target and Adds to Top Team

Broadband ISP Trooli, which is currently building a 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across rural parts of Kent, Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire and East Sussex in England, has accelerated their short-term coverage targets and appointed former BT man James Parker to lead their regional deployment.

Earlier this month we reported that Trooli had already extended their network coverage to 70,000 premises (up from 50,000 in Nov 2020 and 26,000 in Jun 2020). Until today their aim was to extend that coverage to reach at least 150,000 UK premises by the end of 2021, before rising to 500,000 by late 2023 and then 1 million in 2024 (the latter goal has already doubled from their original target).

However, progress has been so strong that their short-term targets can now be accelerated, again. The company now aims to have its network available to 170,000 homes and businesses by the end of 2021, rising to 400,000 by December 2022 and then hitting 1 million in 2024 as previously reported. A nice bump and suggesting that they’ll probably deliver much more than 500K by the end of 2023.

Meanwhile, James Parker (age 56), who was most recently Customer Success Principal at BT, joins as Regional Build Director for Trooli’s new network in Hampshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire. His target is to make the firm’s full fibre network available to 30,000 properties in those three areas alone by the end of the year.

James said:

“After 32 years at BT, I am delighted to be taking on a fresh new challenge and to be helping Trooli achieve its ambitions in southern and central England. The network is up and running in Berkshire and we will be connecting our first customers in the next few weeks.”

Andy Conibere, CEO of Trooli, said:

“I have known James for many years and his decades of telecoms experience and industry knowledge will be invaluable to us as we continue to implement our ambitious expansion plans.

I am very pleased to welcome him to the Trooli family and to our senior management team as we expand out of our Kent heartland into new parts of the country.”

The provider’s broadband packages typically cost from £50 inc. VAT per month for an unlimited 300Mbps (100Mbps upload) service and this rises to £80 for 900Mbps+ (300Mbps upload). Customers are also being offered their first month’s subscription for free. The gigabit package may be more expensive than some rival gigabit plans, but this largely reflects the higher build costs of tackling rural / semi-rural towns and villages.

At present all of this is being supported by funding worth €30m from the Connecting Europe Broadband Fund (here) and, more recently, £5m via a senior facility agreement with NatWest Bank (here). More funding seems certain to follow.