Connect Fibre Bring FTTP Broadband Build to Nottinghamshire

Network operator and UK ISP Connect Fibre (Fibre Assets Ltd.) has today announced that their ongoing deployment of a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband service, which aims to cover 100,000 premises across the East of England, has been extended into Nottinghamshire (England).

The operator, which is being backed by an unspecified amount of funding from the Foresight Group (here), is currently rolling out a new open access (wholesale) full fibre network – using XGS-PON technology from ADTRAN – across the small East Cambridgeshire village of Reach (via local ISP partner Air Broadband) and the large village of Sutton-in-the-Isle.

The good news is that they’ve today announced their ambition to extend into various locations across the county of Nottinghamshire, which will start with the large village and civil parish of Edwinstowe (home to a population of c. 5,200). Connect Fibre has already started work on the £1m deployment, and the first customers are due to go live sometime this summer.

Customers typically pay from £25 per month for an unlimited 50Mbps (symmetric speed) package on an 18-month term, which rises to just £50 per month for their top 900Mbps plan. All packages include a wireless router, UK support and free setup.

Stefan Stanislawski, Connect Fibre Co-founder and CEO, said:

“I have been visiting Edwinstowe over the past three years as part of the 5G Connected Forest project which generated interesting and thought-provoking results in terms of the complementarity of mobile networks and fibre networks. On my many visits I’ve grown to admire Edwinstowe and the industrious nature of the community here. We are extremely pleased to deliver our full fibre broadband which will be just fabulous to use. Fairer, faster, flawless.”

Keith Girling, Nottinghamshire County Councillor, said:

“Being better connected is essential for the way we work, learn, and communicate. So having these alternative broadband networks is great news for residents and businesses in the area. As a council we have worked closely with this provider, as they have strong links with Netmore, one of our partners for our world-leading 5G Connected Forest research project.

Their know-how brought a 5G network to a forest setting so that experts were able to test how 5G technology can boost tourism and the environment.”

The move represents wonderful news for those living in the county, although it should be noted that Edwinstowe will soon be home to several gigabit-capable broadband networks. Both Full Fibre Limited (here) and Openreach have added the same town to their respective rollout plans, which is good for consumers as there will be plenty of choice, albeit with the catch of making it harder for each operator to make their business models work.