VXFIBER and Council Owned ISP Extend FTTP Broadband to Wivenhoe UPDATE2

Network builder VXFIBER UK has announced that they’ve joined forces with the local authority owned ISP Colchester Fibre (part of Colchester Amphora Trading) to make their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network (dedicated point-to-point fibre) available to over 3,500 homes and businesses in the town of Wivenhoe.

The move is a little unusual, given both the nature of Colchester Fibre’s links to the council and the fact that this announcement includes no mention of VXFIBRE’s subsidiary LilaConnect – they’re normally the company responsible for marketing, selling, installing and maintaining the connections from VXF’s new infrastructure to premises (Lila supplies access via a number of ISPs, such as Air Broadband etc.).

In order to give this some context, it’s necessary to go back to VXF’s original fibre build announcement for Colchester itself in 2020 (here). The build had two sides, one was a state aid (LFFN) supported project to deploy a new Dark Fibre network across the area to connect public sector sites, while the other was VXF’s commercial £10m project to extend out from that in order to reach 25,000 local homes and business.

At the time, it was noted that Colchester Amphora Trading Ltd (CATL) would act on behalf of the Council, to draw up Heads of Terms for a deal with VX that delivers the “best commercial outcomes from a joint approach to infrastructure deployment.” The initial build plan for this aimed to reach premises around Greenstead, Wivenhoe and West Mersea by the end 2020, although until now Wivenhoe hasn’t yet gone live.

What’s Changed?

As we understood it, the original plan for reaching Wivenhoe was as stated above – using the open access network model via LilaConnect. But today’s announcement makes no mention of LilaConnect and instead focuses upon the town’s build being a partnership between VX Fiber and Colchester Fibre to “roll out a true gigabit full fibre network to over 3,500 homes and businesses in Wivenhoe.”

Extract from the Press Release

From today, the majority of residents and businesses will have access to one of the fastest, most reliable internet connections anywhere in the UK. The network build is nearing completion, with the final stages to deploy this new, lightning-fast network due to take place in early 2023.

The collaboration between Colchester Fibre and VX Fiber is a first of its kind between a local authority owned Internet Service Provider (ISP) and an alt-net provider. It has been made possible because of VX Fiber’s unique proposition of building ‘true’ open access networks that can be used by other UK ISP’s.

Colchester Fibre (part of Colchester Amphora Trading) is an ISP that is wholly owned by Colchester Borough Council. By securing significant government and private investment, it is on a mission to make Colchester and the surrounding area, one of the best-connected places in the UK. By providing those living and working in Wivenhoe with the very best full fibre to the Premises (FTTP) network, Colchester Fibre’s partnership with VX Fiber brings it another step closer to achieving this ambitious goal.

Sadly, the announcement doesn’t provide much detail on how this partnership works (e.g. does the council’s ISP provide any funding for the commercial build?) or mention LilaConnect, which could mean that none of the other ISPs that work with Lila will be able to serve this part of VXF’s network.

Sadly, the press release dropped late on Friday, so at the time of writing we haven’t been able to get a response to our questions (expect another update today), due to the usual weekend lag. However, by the looks of it, the above arrangement appears to have helped to resolve whatever issues they were having in the town.

Richard Watts, UK Country Manager at VX Fiber, said:

“Fast and reliable connectivity has shifted from being a luxury to being more of an everyday utility. As the leading provider of open access full fibre networks, collaborating with one of the most innovative, council owned, pure-fibre broadband operators – Colchester Fibre – we are able to provide towns such as Wivenhoe with the stable, reliable and high-speed internet connectivity they require.

It truly is refreshing to see a local authority putting the community’s digital needs first ensuring that Wivenhoe – and the whole of Colchester for that matter – is future-proofed with the highest quality and high-speed broadband. As a result, residents and businesses will be able to enjoy the economic and socio-economic benefits of a digital economy today and tomorrow.”

Steven Eke, Business Development Manager for Colchester Fibre, explained:

“The community comes first at Colchester Fibre – as such we are committed to ensuring that every resident and business in Wivenhoe has the opportunity to connect to the best full fibre broadband on the market. This has been made possible through this first of its kind partnership with VX Fiber. From today those living and working in the town can benefit from gigabit connectivity that meets the needs of an ever-evolving digital economy and world. It doesn’t end there; they can also rest assured that all profits from Colchester Fibre are reinvested for the benefit of the wider community.”

Meanwhile, VXF and LilaConnect are continuing to manage and operate other full fibre network deployments in the Staffordshire cities and towns of Stoke-on-Trent, Leek, Cannock and Penkridge, as well as parts of London (via Prime Fibre), Crewe and Nantwich in Cheshire, and not to mention their projects in Bristol and Uttoxeter.

At the time of writing, the new network in Wivenhoe wasn’t yet live and there were no package details viewable on Colchester Fibre’s website (it’s possible this may change later today). We should add that Openreach have also built some FTTP into the very south of the town, next to the river.

UPDATE 31st Oct 2022 @ 11:31am

VX Fiber has informed us that they remain “committed” to Open Access across the UK. “LilaConnect is the first ISP on most of the VX Fiber network, but Colchester Fibre has been given an opportunity to retail first in Wivenhoe,” said a spokesperson to ISPreview.co.uk. The use of the word “first” suggests that the exclusivity may have an expiry date. LilaConnect continues to retail across the rest of their Colchester area.

The operator also clarified that Colchester Fibre is acting as an ISP in the same way as any other ISP can wholesale over VX Fiber’s network. “There is no funding from the council on the FTTP fibre build. This is a separate arrangement from the LFFN build Colchester BC made for metro fibre across the city of Colchester,” said VX Fiber.

UPDATE 2nd Nov 2022

Colchester Fibre has informed us that the first connections were delivered last week and they’ve added details of the packages to the website (here), although their site is still missing a lot of required details (e.g. full T&C’s, complaints handler, contacts etc.).