Rural ISP Gigaclear to Deploy FTTP Broadband in Wincanton

Infracapital-backed UK broadband ISP Gigaclear has announced that the next location to benefit from the rollout of their new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network will be the small rural town of Wincanton in South Somerset (England) – home to a local population of around 5,300.

At present, the operator’s network, which currently covers over 250,000 premises, is already present in rural communities and market towns across parts of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Somerset, Devon, Dorset, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Kent and Essex. The aim is to reach 500,000 premises by the end of 2023.

The planned full fibre rollout in Wincanton is expected to reach 3,396 premises across the town and will require over 62 kilometres of new fibre, which will be laid via trenching as well as through existing duct and pole infrastructure (i.e. Openreach PIA). Assuming all goes well, then the local build should complete by Winter 2022.

Customers can expect to pay from £17 a month (discounted rate) for a symmetric 200Mbps broadband package on an 18-month term (£40 thereafter) and that rises to £49 (£79 thereafter) for their top 830Mbps plan. All packages include a wireless router and free installation.

Jo Scarrott, South West General Manager at Gigaclear, said:

“We’ve already been building our network in rural Somerset where we’ve focussed on bridging the digital divide and addressing inadequate broadband provision. Now that we’ve got a well-established network here, we can turn our attention to its market towns, like Wincanton, which are calling out for better internet.

Fast broadband speeds are a necessity for a modern economy. The way in which we live and work depends on the internet, something that has been sharply underlined by the pandemic. We believe in digital inclusion for all and we’re excited to bring our network to more people so they can enjoy the life-changing benefits that come with world-leading connectivity.”

The catch is that rival gigabit builder Jurassic Fibre has already announced Wincanton for their own deployment and the town also appears on Openreach’s FTTP rollout plan for the future.