FullFibre Ltd Passes 300K UK Premises with FTTP and Appoint New CEO

Broadband network operator FullFibre Limited (Fibre Heroes), which is in the process of merging with fellow operator Digital Infrastructure (BeFibre), has announced that their combined Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network now covers 300,000 UK premises (RFS) and they’ve just appointed James Warner as Interim CEO.

Until recently, FF and DI were both separately expanding their alternative gigabit-capable broadband networks across different parts of England. But that changed in early October 2023 when they became the latest two operators to announce a merger (here) – creating a single wholesale company and a single wholesale platform.

The deal created a combined network that covered over 250,000 homes and businesses (Ready for Service), with an ambition to deliver 1 million live premises through a wholesale business model. At the time, a total of 67 towns across 17 counties were said to be actively in build or nearing completion and their goal was to reach 300,000 premises by the end of 2023.

The good news today is that they’ve officially hit the 300,000 premises mark, which reflects a build rate of c.16,666 premises per month since October 2023. At the same time, FullFibre has announced that their existing CEO, Oliver Helm, is stepping down from the role to support the strategic growth of the business at Board level.

Helm has been replaced by James Warner as Interim CEO, effective from 1st January 2024. James will take on leadership of the newly merged entity that includes the two alternative network operators Full Fibre Ltd and Digital Infrastructure Ltd, as well as the in-group Retail ISP BeFibre. James has been with FullFibre as a member of the board and management team since the investment by Basalt Partners in 2020.

James told ISPreview:

“The fibre industry, and in turn our business, are transitioning from entrepreneurial startups in an emerging space to more stable, mature SMEs. I’ve loved every minute of the start-up era we have been in and I am just as excited to see the next phase of our journey and what we can achieve.”

FullFibre is now actively building its wholesale full fibre network to more than 130 market towns across the UK and claims to “prioritise towns that have been previously overlooked by larger corporations who have deemed these areas ‘unprofitable’“, although in fairness quite a few of their builds are occurring in areas where gigabit-capable rivals already exist or are planning to deploy.