Digital Infrastructure Get GBP100m to Fuel UK Full Fibre Rollout

Network operator Digital Infrastructure (DI), which a few months ago revealed their aim to deploy a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to 1 million UK premises in 84 cities (here), has today confirmed that they’ve been able to secure £100m of funding from Basalt Infrastructure Partners.

The provider’s first deployment has already begun for 38,000 homes in the Cheshire town of Crewe (Zzoomm and VX Fiber are building in the same area), which is being supported by Aberla Utilities as part of a 5-year contract. The ITS Technology group has also deployed some of their own fibre into that town, albeit mostly around the local business park and not homes.

DI states that they’ve so far opened hubs in the Northwest of England (Cheshire), the Southeast (Essex), and the Midlands. A fourth hub is also set to launch near the Scottish Border in 2022, with the ultimate goal of reaching c.80 towns and cities by 2027.

As part of that, they’ve already been spotted building in Boston (Lincolnshire) and Brentwood (Essex), with the latter being their first hub. At the last update, in July 2021, we were informed that they’d already covered 9,500 premises, although it’s unclear how many of those were ‘Ready for Service‘ (RfS).

Charlie Ruddy, CEO of Digital Infrastructure, said:

“We embarked on our journey to future-proof the UK’s connectivity in January 2021, and things are really gathering momentum. We’re providing local communities with a fit-for-the-future infrastructure that delivers the guaranteed speeds people need now and for years to come. This is a brand-new network that will leave a positive legacy in society.

There are only a handful of times in your career when you’re able to truly make a difference and I believe this is one of them. We can positively influence how communities live, work and play – not to mention how people view the provision of what is now widely regarded the fourth utility.”

The operator expects that up to 500 civil engineering and white-collar jobs will be created to support the growth of both organisations and the business supply chain, by the end of 2022. But they will of course need to raise significantly more investment in order to hit that 1 million premises goal.

Customers of the Be Fibre service can expect to pay from £29 per month on a 24-month term for an unlimited 150Mbps package with free installation, which rises to just £51 for those who want their top 1Gbps tier.