New UK ISP Brighton Fibre Make Progress on Full Fibre Rollout

A new internet provider and alternative network builder called Brighton Fibre, which spent most of 2023 operating at a small scale in stealth mode, has finally decided to go public with more information about the new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network that they’re deploying in East Sussex.

Much as the name might suggest, Brighton Fibre seems to be focusing their early efforts on the seaside city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England. On the surface this might seem like an unusual choice for a new entrant, given the wider market strains and the fact that several gigabit-capable broadband operators – including Virgin Media, Openreach, Hyperoptic and CityFibre – already have a big presence in the city.

However, Brighton Fibre are doing something a bit more targeted with their own build, while also working alongside CityFibre and Openreach where it makes sense to do so. As for their own fibre, the provider has initially focused on connecting poorly served patches of the city, using plenty of PIA (i.e. running fibre via existing ducts and poles), such as for those within the North Laine area (e.g. shops and some residential homes).

On top of that, they’ve also done some other interesting stuff, like adopting the old 1930s radio relay network (Rediffusion) and using recycled ducts for their newly built network infrastructure. The provider similarly prefers to fund their growth via borrowing and has pledged “never” to use VC (Venture Capital) funding to help grow scale (i.e. they’re adopting more of a citizen-funded model using strategic and community partnerships).

Suffice to say that this isn’t a network that seems to be engaging in the usual rat race of trying to out-build rivals, and instead appears to be more community centric and demand-led in their pursuits at a smaller scale. Most of Brighton Fibre’s staff are also engineers, which means they have a pretty good idea of how to build something in a way that’s fast, cost-effective and very efficient.

Leo Brown, Brighton Fibre’s Co-Founder, told ISPreview:

“Building a network with sustainability first is our mission. This means using recycled duct in our underground network, renewable backed low-power computing in our exchanges, electric vans and of course ensuring our waste is as close to zero as possible. We recently took the radical move switching to single board computers (SBC) like Raspberry Pi, and decommissioning our servers.

Our network now consumes less energy than a boiling kettle. I would really like that to be the high water mark.”

The reason why this provider has largely opted to stay below the radar, until now, is because they wanted to grow their network a bit more and be prepared for when they finally opened up to the wider public. As a result, their network now claims to serve over 30,000 properties (on net), which excludes their work with rival network operators. The provider also wholesales access to their network out to other operators.

Brighton Fibre’s main Point of Presence (POP) within Brighton itself is within the Brighton Digital Exchange, a cooperatively run carrier-neutral datacentre built in 2015. The network also harnesses some open fibre from networks like the Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CNI) group, which brings together public and private sector organisations to create and share new digital infrastructure in Tameside, Blackpool, Manchester and Sussex.

Residential customers of the new service will typically pay from £25 per month for a 150Mbps (symmetric speed) package with free installation, which rises to £60 for their top 900Mbps tier.