BeFibre Reveal UK FTTP Broadband Rollout Plan for Whole of 2022

ISP BeFibre and its network building sister brand Digital Infrastructure have today revealed the next set of locations to benefit from their UK rollout of a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network, which will see the operator deliver 200,000 Ready for Service premises (RFS) by the end of 2022.

The provider’s first deployment began for 38,000 homes in the Cheshire town of Crewe, which is being supported by Aberla Utilities as part of a 5-year contract. The first homes in Brentwood have since joined those, with others in Worcester, Clacton on Sea, Hattersley, Ingatestone, Nantwich, Oundle, Maltby, Dinnington, Hyde, Heysham and Skelmersdale also imminent.

The good news is that they’ve today announced their next batch of future build locations, which means that they’ve now revealed their entire rollout plan for the whole of 2022 (this is expected to cover a total of 200,000 properties). Customers of the BeFibre 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 their top 1Gbps tier.

The latest editions include Stalybridge, Ramsbottom, Heswall, Dinnington, Glossop and Gamesley, Thornton and Hambleton, Mossley, Wickersley, Hadfield and Hollingworth for the North of England. Meanwhile, Gloucester’s Bowden Hall, plus Uppingham, Corby North and Oakham in the centre of England, are also on the 2022 roadmap.

Charlie Ruddy, CEO, said:

“We know this is a bold plan, and it’s not customary for ISPs to reveal their moves ahead of schedule. But broadband needs to change in this country, and we’re passionate about being a part of that.

We have recruited at pace since coming to the market only a few months ago, and I’m pleased to now be joined by some very experienced names from the world of telecoms. We’ve also kickstarted a global mobility programme to address the engineering shortage so that we won’t be held back by any resource gaps.

From the outset, we’ve talked about positively influencing how communities live, work and play, and that means far more than simply empowering homes with better connectivity. We recently supported Brentwood Borough Council, for example – in the town where our rollout began – to raise more than £17,000 for the British Red Cross DEC Ukraine Appeal. We’re loving the opportunity to truly immerse ourselves in what matters at a hyper-local level.”

As usual with urban-focused builds, some of the aforementioned locations are also being targeted by gigabit-capable broadband builds from rivals (e.g. in Crewe they’ll face deployments from Zzoomm and VXFIBER), as well as by the larger and more established players (e.g. Openreach, CityFibre and Virgin Media). Suffice to say, competition is expected to be aggressive.

A lot of their new fibre will also be run through Openreach’s existing cable ducts and poles (Openreach), which is now a fairly common practice. 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.