Upp Boosts England FTTP Broadband Rollout with New Software

Network operator Upp has signed a new partnership with Comsof Fibre and GE Digital that aims to improve how quickly they can design their new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network for the East of England, which they claim could “speed up the rollout process by 80% and dramatically lower build costs“.

In case anybody has forgotten, Upp – supported by investment from LetterOne – is currently investing £1bn (£300m in equity and the rest as debt) to rollout their new full fibre network to 1 million premises in the East of England by 2025 (here). The build has already begun in several towns across Norfolk and Lincolnshire (e.g. Stamford and Diss) and they aim to cover 50 towns (c.300,000 homes) in the two counties by the end of 2022.

The new agreement with Comsof Fibre and GE Digital is intended to improve their network design process for all this. Ordinarily, Upp says it could take years of training and experience before a designer can independently produce network plans of high quality, but the new software they’ve adopted as part of this deal is intended to change that.

Upp states that the software will enable them to “automatically design an optimised, consistent and error free network, speeding up the rollout process by 80% and dramatically lowering build costs“.

Alex Marshall from Upp said:

“The software is proving to deliver everything we hoped it would and more. We are so pleased to be able to recruit individuals from all walks of life and provide them with on-the-job training. This enables them to work independently in a matter of weeks rather than years, equipping them with a brand-new skill set to add to their CV. It’s fantastic to see the fast progress which is already being made to our build.”

The operator hasn’t said how much progress they’ve made on the rollout so far this year, thus we’ve no easy way to independently verify the above claims, but it sounds like a positive development.