FTTP ISP Fibrus Hooks up with Estate Agents in England and N.Ireland

Belfast-based broadband ISP Fibrus, which is deploying a new gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) network across Northern Ireland and Northern England, appears to be working with a growing number of estate agents in their deployment areas in order to help make home buyers aware of their growing network coverage.

Customers of the service 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 some areas (e.g. Cumbria) may benefit from big discounts to encourage take-up.

However, as part of the operator’s rollout, they now appear to be working with Estate Agents in both N.Ireland and Great Britain to help raise awareness of their availability via a new platform called ‘Home Connect’. According to the Belfast Telegraph, this is an online portal where estate agents submit leads from their tenants/clients and Fibrus then pay commission for a successful sign-up.

The ISP said they currently have 6 estate agents signed up to Home Connect, with 93 expressions of interest. But there are almost 200 lettings and estate agents in their current network patch, and Fibrus said they’re seeking to partner with as many as possible.

Colin McCrory, Fibrus Sales Team Lead, said:

“Home owners and property buyers want to be connected immediately when they move into a new premises. Our aim is to have customers installed on move-in day, or as close to it as possible. As long as we know the details early enough, that’s something we can do.

The results of a recent UK survey revealed that having a full fibre connection can add around £5,000 to the value of a property in Northern Ireland.”

The difficulty with using estate agents in this way is that home buyers may not be getting a full perspective of what is available to them in each area from the estate agents. The recent deal between Zoopla and ZYBRE attempts to cover a larger cross-section of networks (here), but it’s still only catching some of the available options.

On this point the National Trading Standards – Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) is reported to also be considering updating the material information rules for property listings to require that agents include data on broadband ISP and mobile coverage (here). But it’s unclear whether or how this will solve the issue of correctly and impartially reflecting availability to home buyers.