ServerHouse Seeks to Expand Hampshire UK Broadband Network

Network and data centre operator ServerHouse, which already serves over 300 residential and business customers in Hampshire (England) using a hybrid network of “full fibre” and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) connectivity – across both urban and rural areas, has revealed tentative plans to upgrade and expand their coverage.

The details came to light after the operator, which has been in operation since all the way back in 1997, made a request for Code Powers from Ofcom (here). Such powers are typically sought to help speed-up deployments of new fibre optic infrastructure and cut costs, not least by reducing the number of licences needed for street works. It can also be used to facilitate access to run their own fibre via Openreach’s existing ducts and telegraph poles (PIA).

The operator, which also has Points of Presence (PoPs) in Chichester, Bournemouth, Swindon, Portsmouth, Gosport, East Dean, Boldre and Exbury, is said to be planning to expand their hybrid network to “reach more residential and business customers across the United Kingdom“. But the details are currently quite vague.

Ofcom’s Code Powers Statement

The Applicant has stated that it intends to extend its hybrid network to areas which do not have access to gigabit-capable broadband services (up to 10Gbps), fulfilling demand for bandwidth from both business and residential users. Its application places particular emphasis on its plans to infill areas and premises which other operators and alt-nets have missed out of their build, mainly consisting of multi-dwelling and multi-business units.

As its network grows, the Applicant will also target larger business customers and more residential customers who need increasing bandwidth for various uses such as video, mobile and on-demand applications. These customers will be located in or on multi-dwelling and multi-business units, business parks, private roads, single dwelling units, local authority land or properties and shared driveways amongst other places.

However, it’s worth noting that such applications are often full of highly ambitious talk, which may or may not reflect the full reality of what an operator ends up doing. Lest we forget that the UK market is already saturated with masses of alternative networks building full fibre (here), which carries significant risks for new entrants.

On the other hand, ServerHouse do have a lot of history behind them, even if it is more on the data centre side of connectivity. But they might want to consider updating their news page, which last saw a post in 2014 – not super confidence inspiring.