Fibrus Reveal 40 FTTP Broadband Rollout Areas in North England

Belfast-based ISP Fibrus, which until now has been focused on building gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across Northern Ireland, has this afternoon revealed its £200m expansion plan for Great Britain – aiming to reach 113,000 premises by 2025 (starting in Cumbria).

Today’s announcement makes no mention of the figure they first put out a year ago (here), which talked about a plan to cover 300,000 premises in “118 regional towns” across parts of Cumbria, Northumberland and North Yorkshire within the next 3 years (i.e. by mid to late 2024). But we understand that this is still the aim.

The original announcement said that the deployment in England would start with the historic Penrith market town in Cumbria’s rural Eden Valley area, which is also on Openreach’s rollout plan. The first properties in Penrith are understood to have gone live in May 2022.

The good news is that today’s press release contains a lot more detail and confirms that 40 towns and villages in Cumbria, including Kendal, Workington, Whitehaven and Ulverston, will be among the first to benefit as Fibrus expands this side of the Irish Sea.

Fibrus’ First 40 Locations in Cumbria

Kendal, Burneside, Staveley, Windermere, Ambleside, Workington, Whitehaven, Keswick, Cockermouth, Parton, Distington, Mayport, Stainburn, Seaton, Great Clifton, Flimby, Dearham, Silloth, Wigton, Longtown, Brampton, Dalston, Scotby, Ulverston, Dalton-in-Furness, Askam-in-Furness, Haverigg, Broughton-in-Furness, Frizington, Millom, Cleator Moor and St Bees, Egremont, Seascale, Grange-over-Sands, Milnthorpe, Holme, Arnside, Appleby-In-Westmorland, Sedbergh, Shap and Walney Island.

“The expansion is part of its £200 million investment in Cumbria,” said the announcement (i.e. they’ll need to find more funding to push into other counties), and will create over 200 jobs across the county.

Martin Dougan, GB Build Director, Fibrus, said:

“Connectivity is more important than ever and is crucial to levelling up the UK economy. I am therefore delighted to join Fibrus, a company that can play a key role in achieving this. Our GB roll out plan is as ambitious as the incredibly talented and dedicated team who will be bringing hyperfast broadband to those towns and businesses that have been deprived for too long. Following the launch in our first GB town, Penrith, at the end of last month, I can’t wait to further support Fibrus’ fast paced growth and future success.”

Customers of Fibrus typically pay from £39.99 per month (currently discounted to £19.99 – but only in their commercially built areas) for an unlimited 150Mbps package with a router and free installation, which rises to £59.99 per month for their top 1000Mbps tier on a 12-month contract term.

UPDATE 1st July 2022

We’ve had confirmation that the 300,000 figure, across the whole of North England, still stands.