Trooli Sign GBP11.6m Deal to Supply their UK Full Fibre Rollout

Full fibre broadband ISP Trooli has today signed a 3-year supply deal with Networks Centre, a telecoms equipment distributor, which is worth £11.6m and will help to provide the kit for their ongoing rollout of a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in England.

At present the alternative network (AltNet) provider, which employs 170 staff, has already built their network to cover 100,000 premises, and they aim to reach 170,000 by the end of 2021. After that, the operator intends to reach 400,000 premises in December 2022 (across c.300 towns and villages) and then 1 million premises by the end of 2024 (mostly across Kent, East Sussex, Berkshire and Suffolk).

All of this was recently boosted by a new £67.5m debt facility agreement (here) and some of that funding looks to have gone toward the new supply deal with Networks Centre. As part of that, the equipment distributor will, among other things, supply 15,000km of its ultralight weight PIA fibre optic cabling (manufactured by STL).

The provider hopes that this will help them to increase the speed it lays its network from its current rate of 673km per quarter to 1,000km by as early as next Spring 2022.

Christine McCabe, Trooli Regional Build Director, said:

“Having recently secured an additional £67.5m funding, and a long-term agreement with UK Power Networks, this three-year deal consolidates our most important supply chain artery and allows us to continue the rapid expansion of our network with confidence.

We have been working with Networks Centre for the past 18 months and have developed an excellent relationship with them.

Despite the challenges posed by Covid and the disruption caused by the blockage of the Suez Canal, they have ensured there has been no interruption to our cable supplies. They have proved to be very flexible, adapting drum sizes to our particular needs – which has helped us to reduce wastage – and have been responsive in tackling any problems that have arisen.”

The provider’s broadband packages typically cost from £50 inc. VAT per month for an unlimited 300Mbps (100Mbps upload) service (currently discounted to £35) with free standard installation, and this rises to £80 for 900Mbps+ (300Mbps upload). 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.