Welsh ISP Ogi Become One of the First AltNets with High Street Presence

Infracapital-backed UK broadband ISP Ogi, which is investing £200m to build a new full fibre (FTTP) network across 150,000 premises in South Wales by 2025, appears to have become one of the first (possibly THE first) alternative network providers to have a high street presence thanks to a new deal with the ‘Get Connection’ retail chain.

Under the deal, the UK’s largest independent mobile phone retailer, Get Connected, will now start offering Ogi’s ultrafast full fibre broadband and voice packages in their high street stores for the very first time. Naturally, this will only occur in areas where Ogi’s network actually exists, which initially reflects stores in high streets across Abergavenny, Chepstow, Haverfordwest and Monmouth.

Both companies anticipate rolling out further as Ogi’s rollout plans progress. The operator, which is now working in parts of over 60 towns and villages across Wales, recently reported that they had covered a total of 60,000 premises to July 2023 (up from 47,500 in March 2023) and had added 6,000 customers “in less than a year” (here).

Customers of the service can expect to pay from £30 per month for an unlimited plan with downloads of 150Mbps (15Mbps upload) and an included wireless router on a 24-month term, which rises to £60 for their top 900Mbps (90Mbps upload) plan. New customers will also get six months FREE broadband and evening and weekend voice calling.

Ogi’s Chief Revenue Officer, Sally-Anne Skinner, said:

“We’re delighted to be working with Get Connected to bring Ogi to the high street. Working with local companies who share our mission to connect people to their communities is at the heart of everything we do.

Adding to our portfolio of routes to market, including door-to-door, telesales and online, this new partnership is yet another option for our customers, and a welcome boost to the independent high streets across south Wales.”

As to the question of whether or not they’re the first broadband AltNet to have a high street presence, that one is a bit harder to answer. For example, Vodafone, which sells FTTP packages via CityFibre as well as Openreach, could be said to already be doing this via the sale of broadband products inside their stores. Except Vodafone themselves are not an AltNet.