Netomnia FTTP Broadband Rollout Targets Apartment Blocks

Network operator Netomnia – supported by UK ISP YouFibre – appears to have started to put more focus on extending their 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) broadband lines into large residential buildings (Multi-Dwelling Units), with MDUs in Liverpool expected to see quite a bit of work.

The operator, which has already covered 300,000 UK premises (up from 265k in October 2022) and is present in parts of 35 towns and cities – with many more in-planning, currently aims to reach 1 million premises across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland by the end of 2023 (coverage plan). But until recently, most of their early build has tended to focus on individual housing.

However, in recent months we’ve seen signs that Netomnia is keen to target a lot more MDUs, not least with their hiring of a new dedicated Project Manager for MDU development last summer. The latest update is that the operator has engaged contractor GL Telecoms to help them connect various MDUs in Liverpool “over the coming months” and the first one has already gone live.

Work to connect apartment blocks tends to come with various pros and cons. On the one hand, when things go smoothly, it can be quite a cost-effective way of passing many premises for a relatively low cost. But they can also pose challenges due to the unique engineering work required and the need for collaborative work with landlords and local authorities, such as to gain permission for the work to be carried out.

Sophia Koopman, Business Development Director at Netomnia, said:

“We’re delighted to connect our first MDU in Liverpool. Everyone deserves to have seamless access to the wealth of resources that the internet can offer and by working together with landlords and local authorities we can ensure nobody is left behind when it comes to world-class connectivity.”

Just to recap. Netomnia is currently investing £39m to cover “over” 130,000 premises in Liverpool, although their wider build in the city is being conducted alongside a different contractor – MJ Quinn. The big catch here being that Liverpool is also home to major gigabit broadband deployments by Virgin Media, Openreach and Hyperoptic (an MDU specialist), as well as some smaller builds from OFNL and ITS Technology.

The service, once live, will be supplied to consumers via YouFibre, which offers unlimited usage, symmetrical speeds, a Wi-Fi router, free installation and 24/7 UK based support. Customers pay from just £21 per month on a 24-month term for their unlimited 150Mbps package (£25 thereafter), which rises to just £29.99 if you want their top 920Mbps plan (£40 thereafter). The latter is also on an offer of £1 a month for the first 3 months.