Network provider LilaConnect, which is a subsidiary of Swedish operator VXFIBER, has just announced that they’ve started to deploy their new “open access” and gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network in the Staffordshire (England) market town of Leek.
The operator is currently building their full fibre networks across several areas of the UK, including in the Staffordshire city of Stoke-on-Trent (100,000 premises – here), the town of Colchester in Essex (8,000 premises – here), parts of London (3,000 premises via Prime Fibre) and the towns of Crewe and Nantwich in Cheshire (here). Not to mention their projects in Bristol and Uttoxeter.
By comparison, the build in Leek is expected to cover 11,750 premises (homes and businesses), with the first properties going live by June 2022. All premises across the market town would then be able to have access to this network by the end of 2022.
Advertisement
Consumer pricing of service options starts from around £24.98 per month for 250Mbps on an 18-month term and goes up to £29.98 per month for 1Gbps, although the exact packages and prices may vary between supporting ISPs.
Brett Shepherd, MD of LilaConnect, said:
“Accelerated by the global pandemic, a stable and secure broadband connection has become an essential utility for homes and businesses alike. Both families and individuals have turned to technology and internet connectivity to support their needs to work and/or learn from home.
Overall, internet usage has also become much more than just streaming video and music or online shopping, it’s also about transforming communities with improvements such as better access to employment, education, and healthcare. This has been evident in Stoke-on-Trent, and as such, I’d encourage everyone who can, to switch to the new technology and take advantage of the many benefits that full fibre brings.”
However, unlike some other Alternative Networks, LilaConnect might have made a good decision to target Leek. At present, the town has very little in terms of gigabit-capable broadband rivals. Openreach are set to build FTTP across the area, but they haven’t said exactly when that will happen or how many premises will benefit (right now they’ve only got a very limited level of coverage), and FullFibre Ltd. are also only just starting a similar rollout in the town.
im sure fibre heroes have just started there rollout in leek a couple of weeks ago how is this going to work with 2 private fibre installers working in the same place at the same time?
You’re correct, FullFibre Limited (Fibre Heroes) does appear to be targetting Leek too and over a similar timescale.
Any word on more mainstream ISPs making use of the LilaConnect network? It’s available on my road but I’d quite like to stick with my current ISP.
Just check roadworks in leek and vxfibre are everywhere and fullfibre Ltd are only working in a few places even though they had started first, surely take up is not going to be good for either if OR upgrade the area to full fibre, which I’m sure now won’t take them long to do as openreachs plan for rolling out fibre is to follow everyone else
So with now the 2 companies working in Leek how long do you reckon until all of Leek is covered? Because if lila can do it in the year alongside FF ltd it’ll be even quicker. This is fantastic news, as a ADSL home using a very poor 4G hub Internet, and being only 15, I can’t wait for this and to finally have a reliable, ultrafast connection.
Both companies are aiming to cover around 11,000 properties by the end of this year, they are both waiting on parts of the infrastructure to start finishing off the fibre network, then they can start connecting properties to the network.
This rollout of the private networks has a drawback which incidentally is not any fault of the either installers. As a private network they can’t use any of the Openreach infrastructure. Therefore to get the fibre from the road to your house another trench / duct needs to laid. I have queried this with Lila as this means digging up your drive / garden. There should have been an agreement drawn up by the authorities to allow the last link from the road to the premises to be used. It has put me off using a private fibre company which is a shame. 5G is creeping closer to our house so that’s the more appropriate option.
lila connect dose not run off your current phone line so you can have basicly 2 internet connections at 1 time 1 with your phone line and 1 with lilas fiber cable they lay directly into your house