Juice Broadband Joins CityFibre’s Gigabit Fibre Network in Dorset UK UPDATE

Poole-based UK ISP Juice Broadband, which already offers a mix of “full fibre” (via Openreach) and fixed wireless services to local premises around South Dorset, has become the latest internet provider to join CityFibre’s Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network. Juice has also just begun connecting their first customers in Bournemouth.

At present CityFibre are already busy investing £30m to expand their FTTP network across the coastal Dorset towns of Poole and Christchurch (£65m if you include their existing city build in Bournemouth), which is being supported by civil engineering firm CCN Communications Ltd. But until now it wasn’t clear which ISP would be the first to offer gigabit-capable broadband services on this new network.

The good news is that Juice Broadband has now become CityFibre’s only ISP for Dorset, although this probably won’t last as we expect TalkTalk, Zen Internet and others will follow in the near future. Juice said that local homes will be able to choose from four different speed options, starting at £34 per month for an unlimited 200Mbps (symmetric speed) package and going up to £71.99 for 900Mbps on a 24-month term.

We note that a shorter 12-month term exists, but you’ll have to pay £99 for installation on that option (free on 24-months). The 900Mbps package is more expensive than some of CityFibre’s other ISPs in different parts of the country, as well as Openreach’s rival tier, but we suspect they may eventually have to adapt once more ISPs launch in the same area.

Ricki Hill, Juice’s Unified Communications Manager, said:

“We’re delighted to be the only Dorset ISP partnering with CityFibre which means we can offer a truly local experience from initial enquiry to ongoing support. We are really excited to see our first customer live on the network. With City Fibre continuing to add to the number of homes which are ready to receive their service, it’s great news for our area.”

We understand that Juice has already connected their first customer in Bournemouth and more should follow as new areas go live, with the roll-out across all of Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch expected to be largely complete by late 2023.

All of this forms part of CF’s wider £4bn project to cover 1 million UK premises with their gigabit-capable FTTP network by the end of 2021 and then 8 million are expected to be “substantially completed” across 285 cities, towns and villages – c.30% of the UK – by the end of 2025 (here). This will potentially also cover 800,000 businesses, 400,000 public sector sites and 250,000 5G access points.

Otherwise, CF’s main gigabit-capable competition in Poole and Christchurch is still Virgin Media, while Openreach seems to be more focused upon the Bournemouth area for their FTTP deployment and has so far left the other two towns to suffer FTTC. CF will now be well positioned to take advantage of Openreach’s failure.

UPDATE 6th Oct 2021

Juice has also launched their Business Ultrastream product on the same platform, which offers speeds from 100Mbps to 1Gbps download with a next business day fix to those businesses that are in the connected area. Prices start from £100 +VAT and £99 installation. The network currently exists in selected areas of the Lansdowne District, Kinson, Springbourne, Southbourne, Castlepoint, Pokesdown, Moordown, Boscombe and Charminster.