Cuckoo Launch 1Gbps UK Broadband Plan with 1 Month Term
ISP Cuckoo today claims to have become one of the first UK internet providers to launch a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based home broadband package based off Openreach’s new “Equinox” discounts, which will see them offer a 1Gbps (gigabit) tier for just £54.99 per month on a 1-month minimum contract term.
Until now the provider, which first launched a year ago, has only been offering a single package based off the slower Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) technology – via the 80Mbps (20Mbps upload) tier, which is promoted as offering average download speeds of 67Mbps on a monthly (rolling) term for £29.99 per month (plus a £60 one-off setup fee including a router and phone line rental).
The ISP also differentiates itself by taking 1% of each bill and using it to help spread internet connectivity into challenging places, such as conflict zones, natural disaster sites and developing communities (customers get to choose the project).
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However, Cuckoo has now joined other ISPs in launching FTTP broadband packages based off Openreach’s network. But as usual they’ve attempted to differentiate themselves by adopting some fairly competitive pricing and attaching a basic monthly rolling contract term, which is likely to be very attractive.
Alexander Fitzgerald, Founder and CEO of Cuckoo, said:
“Broadband is broken; Slow speeds. Complex deals. High prices. And bad service. At Cuckoo, we’re doing the opposite. We now offer the fastest speeds and the cheapest flexible prices in the UK. Feel good broadband is here to stay.”
As for the new packages, each one comes attached to a one-off £60 setup charge (same as on FTTC) and customers will also receive either a Technicolour DWA0122 or DGA4134 router. The new package line-up is now as follows and includes their fixed price promise.
Cuckoo’s New FTTP Broadband Packages
Eggceptional (1Gbps)
900Mbps Avg. Download
115Mbps Avg. UploadPRICE: £54.99 per month
Really Fast (115Mbps)
110Mbps Avg. Download
20Mbps Avg. UploadPRICE: £39.99 per month
Fast (80Mbps FTTC/P)
67Mbps Avg. Download
8Mbps Avg. UploadPRICE: £29.99 per month
In the future we strongly suspect, based on previous hints, that Cuckoo may also make the leap on to CityFibre’s growing national FTTP network. But if that happens, then we understand they’ll probably aim to maintain their current package structure and prices.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Is the middle “Really Fast” (115Mbps) service really up to 50Mbps upload?
To provide that, they’d have to buy 330/50 at wholesale and then throttle it to 115/50.
No, some of the early details they issued were incorrect and have since been updated.
I wonder if they will scrap the upfront if you don’t want the router?
Slim chance
Mark? you mentioned they might move onto CityFibre, do you know who they resell from currently as they don’t own their own network/ASN
It’s possible they may have more than one managed wholesale service agreement, but I think they’re using TalkTalk’s platform. Not confirmed.
Their upload is totally unacceptable!!! No way I’m paying £55 for 50MB upload! Ridiculous
It’s 110 upload on their site
All these packages lack proper upload speeds. This is a limitation commonly shared amongst many Openreach-based services.
I’ve used the DWA0122 router on Cuckoo with FTTC, but found that it has around 2% packet loss, even when the local network is uncongested on the following website:
https://speed.measurementlab.net/#/
May I humbly suggest that a different router might be a good idea on FTTP packages, perhaps with a faster CPU, RAM if necessary, to avoid dropping packets?
Or, it might be avoided by just using a router with better QOS settings / configuration options. Even older routers like the Asus DSL-N16 allow this to be configured from the web interface, and using this router + QOS keeps packet loss below 1% on FTTC.
What’s the WAN speed on their router?
Don’t see how they offer 900/50, the OR offer is 900/120Mbps and that is also set on the profile at the Exchange?
I’ve pinged Mark regarding this as it seems to be a mistake as their website states differently