LightSpeed Broadband’s UK FTTP Rollout Gets GBP60m Funding Boost

UK ISP LightSpeed Broadband, which is busy building a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across the East of England, has managed to secure another significant funding boost of £60 million. The additional investment comes from specialist investor, Sequoia, and takes their total confirmed pot to £115m.

The operator currently aims to cover an initial 100,000 premises (homes and businesses) across the East of England region by the end of 2022 and, after that, they hold a longer-term ambition to reach 1 million premises by the end of 2025.

Work on the new network, which officially got underway in April 2021, initially began in 10 locations across Lincolnshire and Norfolk in England, and they’ve since expanded their plans to include parts of Suffolk and Essex (here). A total of 25 towns across the region have been announced so far (see below for a summary).

In terms of funding, LightSpeed’s original £55m investment came from AtmosClear Investments, Kompass Kapital and Thesaurium, which has now been joined by the Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund. We should point out that their original investment also included the “opportunity” to raise their funding up to £300 million as work progresses (here).

The 25 Towns

Wave One

Boston, Bourne, Holbeach, King’s Lynn, Market Deeping, Skegness, Sleaford, Spalding and Stamford.

Wave Two

Braintree, Clacton-on-Sea, Frinton-on-Sea, Halstead, Harwich, Maldon, Manningtree and Witham in Essex; Cromer, Dereham, Fakenham, Hunstanton, Sheringham and Thetford in Norfolk, and Stowmarket in Suffolk.

The new investment should help to fund these existing deployments and to support their ambition for future builds, which suggests that investors are satisfied with their progress so far.

Hugo Sykes, Managing Partner of AtmosClear Investments, said:

“Sequoia is a UK listed investment fund and we are delighted to welcome them on board. Their culture combines well with that of AtmosClear Investments, Kompass Kapital and LightSpeed and they share our ambition to bring 21st century technology and digital infrastructure to underserved communities.”

Tim Prussing, VP of Sequoia Investment Management Company, said:

“We are delighted to provide this facility that will enable Lightspeed to deliver what has become an essential service to parts of the UK. Critical to our decision to lend was the sustainable approach of Lightspeed and positive impact of connecting underserved parts of the country to full fibre broadband, which will address regional inequality and help in levelling up the country.”

Steve Haines, CEO of LightSpeed Broadband, said:

“We are delighted to have secured this £60 million from Sequoia which builds on our initial £55 million investment. There is more to come. These funds will be used to establish LightSpeed as the leading, ‘quality above all else’, regional ISP.

Our strategy of building in an environmentally conscious way and providing a first-class locally-based customer experience has created ‘The LightSpeed Way’ and a blue-print for future growth.”

New customers will typically pay £39.95 per month on a 24-month term in order to access their 1000Mbps symmetric speed broadband package, which includes a wireless router and no in contract price rises. A £30 one-off setup fee is applicable.