Gigaclear Bring FTTP Broadband to Castle Cary and Bruton

Rural broadband ISP Gigaclear has today announced that their UK rollout of a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network has started to reach two additional towns in Somerset (England), including Castle Cary (population of c.2,100) and Bruton (population of c.3,000).

Overall Gigaclear expects to cover 2,000 premises across both towns, which they say will require over 28,000 metres of new fibre to be laid via trenching, as well as through existing cable duct and pole infrastructure (PIA). The work should also help toward achieving their target of covering 500,000 UK properties by 2023 (they’ve already completed build for 170,000 premises).

The expansion of their network build to Castle Cary and Bruton is currently expected to be completed by Spring 2022. The provider doesn’t currently face much in the way of competition from gigabit-capable rivals in the towns, although we note that Openreach has deployed a little FTTP into a couple of areas.

Jo Scarrott, South West GM for Gigaclear, said:

“We’ve already been building our network in rural Somerset where we’ve focussed on bridging the digital divide and addressing inadequate broadband provision. Now that we’ve got a well-established network here, we can turn our attention to its market towns, like Castle Cary and Bruton, which are calling out for better internet.

Fast broadband speeds are a necessity for a modern economy. The way in which we live and work depends on the internet, something that has been sharply underlined by the pandemic. We believe in digital inclusion for all and we’re excited to bring our network to more people so they can enjoy the life-changing benefits that come with world-leading connectivity.”

Customers of Gigaclear’s service can currently expect to pay from £29 per month for 18 months (£49 thereafter) for a 300Mbps symmetric speed package, which includes free activation / installation and a bundled router. The top 900Mbps tier is a little more expensive at £49 per month (£79 after the first 18 months).