Quickline and UK Cellnex Masts Extend Rural Broadband to 53,000 Premises

Alternative network provider Quickline, which operates a mix of Full Fibre (FTTP) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) networks across parts of Lincolnshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, has announced that their partnership with Cellnex UK has enabled them to reach 53,000 extra homes and businesses in the first year of operation.

Quickline is currently being supported by an investment of £500m from Northleaf Capital Partners, which acquired the company in 2021 and is helping to fuel their future ambition to cover 500,000 UK premises in rural and semi-rural areas with “ultrafast broadband” via a mix of Full Fibre (FTTP) and 5G based FWA (wireless) infrastructure (here).

The operator also joined forces with Cellnex UK last year, which enabled them to install their radio equipment on the company’s growing network of UK towers (masts) and related infrastructure to “deliver lightning fast broadband to properties in isolated areas across the north of England, including remote communities in the North Yorkshire moors.”

Mark Seward, Director of FWA Operations for Quckline, said:

“By using existing masts and towers, we ensure we keep our carbon footprint to a minimum. As a company, we are always mindful of our environmental impact when planning and building our own infrastructure, so if we can collaborate with other firms we will do. That’s why our partnership with Cellnex is an important factor in our overall business strategy. It also means that we can speed up the rollout of lightning fast broadband to our customers because we do not have to always build brand new masts from scratch. In addition, by making those savings, we can invest in other areas with poor connectivity and little infrastructure.”

Paul Stonadge, Commercial Director of Cellnex UK, said:

“Cellnex UK is integral to the successful roll-out of wireless connectivity throughout the UK. We are working with key partners such as Quickline to deliver connectivity and services that contribute to socio-economic growth and help us bring connectivity to everyone, everywhere in the UK.”

In total, Quickline has so far commissioned 50 of Cellnex UK’s sites where they can install their technology and are actively looking to identify further sites in the future. At this point, they can connect over 53,000 more properties and “tens of thousands more homes and businesses will have lightning fast capability over the next few years“.