SWS Broadband Acquires UK ISP Cadence Networks Limited

Shrewsbury-based ISP SWS Broadband (RBBS – Rural Broadband Solutions), which serves premises in rural parts of Shropshire (England) and Wales with their fixed wireless and full fibre networks, has today acquired Cadence Networks Limited for an undisclosed sum to support their UK expansion plans.

The move comes only a few short months after SWS announced an expanded plan to deploy a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to cover over 50,000 properties within Shropshire, which aims to complete by the end of 2024 (here).

A big chunk of the aforementioned plan will involve upgrading customers in many of the rural villages that are currently being served by their existing Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network (c.50 communities are being targeted for full fibre). The first villages to benefit from that rollout were named as Stiperstones and Woolston.

By comparison, Cadence Networks is a more bespoke business focused ISP and has infrastructure within three London-based data centres, which should give RBBS a significant foundation upon which it can build its own national data network “so that it is able to manage the quality of service and capacity to its own customers without using third party wholesale providers. The acquisition of Cadence gives RBBS the entire route of traffic to the internet.”

A Spokesperson for SWS / RBBS said:

“We have been working closely with Cadence over the past 6 months to upgrade the SWS backhaul network and prove our scalable infrastructure model. We can now reach a much larger addressable market and extend our reach across other regions within the UK. Working with Cadence has been a pleasure and I believe both businesses have found a perfect fit. Acquiring Cadence will create excellent growth opportunities for the group.”

As mentioned above, SWS has already been working with Cadence on the build of its 100Gbps capable Dark Fibre network around South Shropshire, which underpins some of their planned FTTP expansion, as well as some speed upgrades for their existing FWA customers. The initial Dark Fibre loop includes the towns of Shrewsbury, Church Stretton, Craven Arms, Bishops Castle, Pontesbury and Minsterley.

Customers in their new FTTP areas can expect to pay from £26 per month for an unlimited 30Mbps (10Mbps upload) service with free installation on a 24-month term, which rises to £89 per month for their top 900Mbps (200Mbps upload) tier. You can also get symmetric speeds on all of their packages, albeit at extra cost (e.g. the 900Mbps plan becomes £99).