Wildcard Networks Births New UK Full Fibre ISP Fibreconnect

Business ISP Wildcard Networks has given birth to a “full fibre” (Dark Fibre and FTTP broadband) focused sibling called Fibreconnect, which is the operator’s consumer-facing brand. Both sides of the business are now building networks around Newcastle and, on top of that, they’re about to hop on Cityfibre’s platform.

We last reported on Wildcard Networks in 2017 (here), back when most of their new deployments involved either Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) or Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) technology. But the provider, which also operates a datacentre facility in Newcastle-upon-Tyne to support local businesses and the public sector, has seen strong growth in their Ethernet business over the past 18-months, and they’re now starting to branch out.

Most recently they’ve been harnessing Openreach’s existing cable ducts and poles (Physical Infrastructure Access) to help build their own “full fibre” (GPON) network in parts of the city. The business focused deployment, which also includes some smaller residential areas on new build sites (i.e. those whose developments are too small for Openreach to fully fund an FTTP rollout), has now spawned a new sibling brand called Fibreconnect.

In 2020 the provider was also awarded a tender by Newcastle City Centre to connect The Helix, which is a new technology and science park located on the west of the city, via a Dark Fibre network. This project was successfully completed with additional contracts for key council sites in the city centre (this predated the recent Local Full Fibre Networks [LFFN] tender and is separate from those sites).

Lee Johnston, Director of Wildcard Networks (Fibreconnect), said:

“The fibre we have in the ground in the city centre provided by the local authority project has provided the building blocks for our full-fibre city deployment, targetted at businesses, both directly through Fibreconnect (www.fibreconnect.net) and through our partner network. This has grown significantly in the past 6 months, with a fair percentage of the city centre covered.”

So far the operator has already made FTTP and leased line services available to thousands of businesses, as well as some homes, across the city centre, including in the Team Valley Trading Estate, The Watermark (Gateshead), Orion Business Park and Newcastle Business Park. Existing coverage stands at around 4,400 properties, and they have another 3,000+ or so currently in build.

In addition to the above, they’ve recently signed with CityFibre (wholesale) to become a regional ISP focusing on the North East and Newcastle, which should help them to reach into areas where they currently have no coverage (e.g. they’re expected to be the first ISP to offer services in CF’s North Tyneside city development).

The pricing for their residential off-net (Cityfibre) and on-net FTTP packages will of course be a bit different and may vary between locations. For example, on-net packages cost about £59 inc. VAT per month for their top 160-200Mbps download plan (40-50Mbps upload) and this attracts a £150 installation fee (free on 24-month terms).

Meanwhile, the CityFibre based packages have yet to be finalised, but they’ll be much cheaper at around £45 per month for 800-900Mbps.