Fibrus Extend FTTP Broadband Network to Kendal in England

Belfast-based UK ISP Fibrus, which is busy building a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across Northern Ireland and Northern England, has today announced that their network build has started in a second town in Cumbria – Kendal (this follows their initial build in Penrith).

Until recently Fibrus was predominantly focused on building full fibre infrastructure across Northern Ireland, but all that changed last year (here) when they revealed a tentative 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 the end of 2024).

The plan for Northern England was fleshed out further in June 2022, after Fibrus revealed that they would invest £200m to reach an initial 113,000 premises by 2025 – starting in Cumbria. At that point their first network, which was being built in Penrith, had already started to go live, and they then proceeded to list 40 more locations that would benefit (here).

One of the aforementioned locations was Kendal, which has just gone live. The new full fibre broadband network will aim to reach 14,500 homes and businesses across Kendal, although it’s unclear how long this will take to reach completion. But the operator does expect to deploy 245km of fibre optic cable in the town.

Martin Dougan, Construction Director at Fibrus, said:

“We’re excited to provide the locals of Kendal with the hyperfast broadband they deserve. We know that many communities in Cumbria have previously been underserved by high-speed providers, so our mission is to provide them with an affordable and reliable connection through our expansion.”

Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, said:

“I’m delighted that Fibrus is launching in Kendal. Hyperfast broadband is now more essential than ever, and I’m pleased that many of my constituents will now be able to access it. With many of my constituents working from home, they rely on faster broadband to drive the growth of their businesses, as well as the wider economy. I welcome Fibrus’ ambitious plans for future roll outs across the area, and I will continue to work with providers including Fibrus, and the Government, to ensure local communities can access hyperfast broadband. It is essential we continue to strive for harder to reach areas to be better connected.”

Customers of Fibrus typically pay from £39.99 per month for an unlimited 150Mbps (50Mbps upload) package with an included router and free installation, which rises to £59.99 per month for their top 1000Mbps (300Mbps upload) tier on a 24-month contract term. But for a limited time, homes in Cumbria can save £10 a month on their broadband when they sign-up (offer will end on 31st October 2022).