GBP295m Funding Boost for Netomnia’s UK FTTP Broadband Rollout

Network operator Netomnia and partner broadband ISP YouFibre have today secured a huge funding boost of £295m from DigitalBridge Investment Management, which will help to fuel the ongoing rollout of their new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) network for UK homes and businesses.

The operator, which last year secured £123m of funding (here) and has now covered over 130,000 UK premises across various towns (up from 115,000 last month), ultimately aims to reach 1 million UK homes and businesses by the end of 2023 – that’s a highly ambitious timescale and one that now has a good level of financial support behind it.

The latest transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, subject to the usual regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. is said to have served as legal counsel to DigitalBridge, while Stephenson Harwood LLP advised the operator and existing shareholders in connection with the transaction. The operator was also advised by independent investment bank Greenhill.

Jeremy Chelot, Founder and CEO of Netomnia, said:

“We are thrilled to partner with DigitalBridge and benefit from their support and industry expertise as we work towards our target of one million premises passed in the next two years. We are scaling rapidly and aim to play an active role in unleashing the UK’s digital potential by delivering the benefits that come with multi-gigabit fibre broadband.”

Manjari Govada, Principal at DigitalBridge, said:

“We have known Jeremy for several years and are excited to partner with him in scaling the Group into a premier fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) provider in the UK. We have been highly impressed with the growth of the business and the best-in-class team he has assembled.”

The service itself is typically supplied to consumers via UK ISP partner YouFibre, which offers unlimited usage, symmetrical speeds, a Wi-Fi router, free installation and 24/7 UK based support. Customers pay from just £17 per month on an 18-month term for their unlimited 50Mbps package, which rises to £34 if you want their top 900Mbps plan.

Netomnia often faces competition from gigabit-capable rivals in some of the areas they target, but so far their aggressively competitive pricing and strong service speeds seem to be doing a good job of peeling customers away from more established rivals. Clearly, their investors are happy with what they see. All of this places Netomnia in a good position for future growth and to become one of the more established AltNets.