WeLink Expand 1Gbps Wireless in Edinburgh to 27,500 Premises

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) ISP WeLink Communications UK, which has a network that can offer wireless broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps to homes and businesses, has announced that their deployment in the city of Edinburgh (Scotland) is expanding their carrier-grade coverage to 27,500 premises.

The first areas to benefit from WeLink’s expanded rollout are Summerhall and Calton Hill. During the pilot scheme, the service is said to have achieved symmetrical speeds in excess of 1.3 Gbps (Gigabits per second), although they’re planning to upgrade this so that it will be “capable of delivering” speeds up to 10Gbps in the near future.

The provider’s website lists two so-called “Wireless Fibre” packages, which start at £25 per month for a symmetric 200Mbps service on a 24-month term (plus £30 one-off for installation) and goes up to just £35 for their top 1Gbps plan on an 18-month term. We interpret the name of these to mean fibre fed (capacity) wireless masts, since there’s nothing fibre optic about the wireless radio signal itself.

Natalie Duffield, CEO of WeLink Communications UK, said:

“We’re thrilled to be expanding our wireless network in Edinburgh to give more households and businesses an alternative to mainstream internet service providers and endless roadworks.

The success of our pilot scheme in the Old and New Towns has proved the concept and given us the confidence to invest in growing our coverage. We have seen very high levels of interest from residents in all parts of Edinburgh who want faster speeds than they are currently able to receive so we know the demand is here.

Broadband is vital for modern life and with rising bills, Edinburgh households and businesses need to make sure they are getting full value for money and a decent standard of customer service from their suppliers. We pride ourselves on providing friendly service at a fair price and if you need to get in touch, you can actually speak to us on the phone.”

No doubt some of our readers will quickly point out that Edinburgh is already quite well covered by gigabit-capable broadband from providers like Openreach, Virgin Media (VMO2), CityFibre and Hyperoptic. Not to mention some smaller builds from OFNL and FibreNest at the sites of new build homes.

However, WeLink’s main focus seems to be on around 6,107 premises in the city that cannot yet get speeds of 30Mbps+, but naturally being a wireless network, their signal should extend well beyond that. Not to mention that their prices are also pretty darn competitive with that of their fixed line rivals.