Wildanet Expand Full Fibre Gigabit Broadband Rollout to Devon UK

Rural broadband ISP Wildanet, which last year began the £50 million rollout of a new gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) and fixed wireless (FWA) network across parts of Cornwall (here), has now begun to expand across the border into several towns across Devon in South West England.

At present the operator, which is being backed by the Gresham House British Strategic Investment Infrastructure Fund (BSIF), is already rolling out fibre broadband to communities across Cornwall, with work completed in Liskeard and Dobwalls. Build is also under way in Torpoint, Callington and Launceston and will shortly be starting in Wadebridge, Bude and Pensilva.

The good news is that Wildanet has today announced that their rollout is being expanded into the neighbouring county of Devon. The first two locations to benefit from this rollout will be up to 6,000 homes in Totnes and neighbouring Dartington.

To explain its planned roll-out in more detail, Wildanet has organised two drop-in sessions next week at Totnes Civic Hall for the community and local businesses. The first is on Thursday 14th July from 4pm to 7pm, and the second is on Friday 15th July from 8am to 11am.

Customers of the new service can expect to pay from £39.95 per month (discounted to £25) to receive a 200Mbps (100Mbps upload) package on a 24-month term, which rises to £59.99 if you want their top 900Mbps (400Mbps upload) package. A free connection is often also provided, but only if you’re eligible for the Government’s gigabit voucher scheme (they don’t clarify how much the non-voucher installation costs).

Helen Wylde, Chief Executive of Wildanet, said:

“We believe every person, business and community should have the freedom to access the opportunities high speed broadband provides. That’s why we’re investing £50m to build a new high speed digital network across the South West, and we’re delighted to be coming to Totnes and Dartington.

This will be our first connected community in Devon and we look forward to working with the local community to deliver the service they deserve. We’re also supporting communities around the world by planting a new tree for every property our new fibre network passes, which means we will be planting 6,000 trees as a result of the work we’ll be doing in Totnes and Dartington.”

Work on this new deployment is due to start this summer and will be carried out on a rolling programme street by street. Wildanet said they would engage directly with local traders to take account of their needs, especially when the build reaches Fore Street and High Street. Otherwise, the build is expected to “take a number of months“.

As usual, Wildanet won’t be the only full fibre operator playing in these locations. Both places also appear on Openreach’s FTTP rollout plan, while Airband has also been active in the area as part of their existing state aid supported full fibre contract with the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) programme.