Gigaclear Raise Full Fibre Target to 1 Million UK Premises on Funding Boost

Abingdon-based alternative network and UK ISP Gigaclear, which has built a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to cover 380,000 premises in rural areas, has today secured fresh equity investment from Equitix – worth “up to” £420m – and raised their target to cover “over” 1 million premises by 2027.

Until today, the Infracapital-backed ISP was investing up to £700 million to reach 500,000 UK premises (Ready for Service) across 23 counties by the end of 2024, or the end of 2023 if you include built but not yet RFS premises (here). In theory, today’s announcement would mean that they have not only doubled their rollout target, but have also committed a total of up to around £1.1bn to support it.

Residential customers of the service typically pay from £17 a month (£40 after 18-months) for a symmetric 200Mbps broadband package on an 18-month term, and this rises to £49 (£79 after 18-months) for their top 830Mbps plan. All packages include a wireless router and free installation.

Gareth Williams, CEO of Gigaclear, said:

“We are delighted Equitix has chosen to invest with us as we continue to expand our network to underserved rural towns and villages that would otherwise be left behind. Equitix recognises, as we do, that focusing on connecting poorly-served rural communities clearly differentiates us from other providers of fibre to the home.

There are more than one million additional homes and businesses in the UK for us to build to that fall within our company’s mission. Gigaclear will push forward, ensuring many more communities in rural England are able to benefit from the ultrafast full fibre broadband speeds enjoyed by their urban counterparts.

Alongside our commercial expansion, we will continue to explore opportunities to work with the Government on its Building Digital (BDUK) programme, evaluating each opportunity on a case-by-case basis.”

Hugh Crossley, CEO of Equitix, added:

“We are proud to partner with Infracapital and the Gigaclear team in delivering reliable, affordable, full fibre broadband to rural areas of the UK. In line with our strategic aims to support the UK’s infrastructure and essential services whilst positively impacting local communities, our investment here is a positive step towards generating connectivity for all. Fibre is essential infrastructure and we like the barriers to entry and predictable low risk revenues generated by Gigaclear, the largest rural altnet in the UK.”

The fact that this announcement occurs at a time when quite a few alternative networks are starting to show signs of strain (job losses, consolidation etc.), due to the difficult market conditions (i.e. rising costs, aggressive competition etc.), will not be lost on anybody. The ability to continue raising significant investment in this environment suggests a strong degree of investor confidence in the operator’s approach.

Gigaclear has of course been building for many years longer than most AltNets, and they’ve been doing so in some of the most expensive to tackle rural areas, which tends to disproportionately raise build costs. On the flip side, there’s often less competition for AltNets to worry about in rural communities, although this does vary between locations.

However, the provider’s potential pursuit of contracts under BDUK’s Project Gigabit may be a tougher sell, given the struggles and delays they’ve experienced with delivering some of their previous state aid supported contracts (e.g. Devon and Somerset). The operator today is different from the one that ran into those problems, but politicians – being mindful of public opinion – may still be wary.