Full Fibre ISP G.Network Appoint Former Openreach MD as CEO

London-focused gigabit-broadband builder and UK ISP G.Network, which unexpectedly saw its founder and former CEO – Sasho Veselinski – exit last month due to “personal reasons” (here), has managed to grab the former Managing Director of Openreach’s Fibre and Network Delivery team, Kevin Murphy, to be its new CEO.

The operator has made rapid progress since its launch and now claims to cover over 400,000 premises in the capital city (up from 300k in Jan 2022), while their longer-term aim is to reach c. 1.3 million premises by around the end of 2026. Most of their build is currently taking place across the Boroughs of Westminster, Camden, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Hackney and other Inner London boroughs.

The good news is that the provider has now managed to attract Kevin Murphy to be their new boss, which is quite some feat given the senior position he held at rival operator Openreach (BT). At Openreach he led a team of over 12,500 engineers delivering the company’s full fibre rollout, and was responsible for business connectivity, network access, superfast and ultrafast broadband services across the UK.

Prior to that, Murphy also held a number of roles at BT, including leading the team which designed, built and delivered web, IT, TV and voice services underpinning the London 2012 Olympic Games. Before BT, he worked at NTL (now Virgin Media) building cable networks across the UK and leading the company’s Digital TV operation to 5 million UK customers. He has also held roles at Cable and Wireless.

Sean Williams, G.Network’s Chairman, said:

“We are delighted to have attracted a leading industry figure to G.Network. Kevin’s deep industry knowledge and first-class leadership credentials will be highly beneficial as G.Network moves into a new phase of growth. We are looking forward to welcoming Kevin to G.Network in the coming weeks.”

Kevin is expected to formally take up the new role on 4th July 2022.

Kevin Murphy said:

“I am extremely proud to be joining a company that is making a real difference to Londoners. Having previously lived in London for over 20 years and worked in the capital all my career, I have seen how vital fast, reliable connectivity is to everyone who lives and works here. I am really looking forward to working with the G.Network team to bring full fibre to millions of Londoners in the years ahead.”

Customers of the network tend to pay from £24 per month for an unlimited 150Mbps (50Mbps upload) package, which includes a free connection and wireless router. Prices then go up to £50 per month for their top symmetric speed 900Mbps (gigabit) package. Anybody taking a 24-month term will also currently benefit from a 6-month free service discount. But we note that their post-discount prices have recently increased by £2.