The ITS Technology Group, which operates 36 wholesale full fibre broadband and Ethernet networks (“Faster Britain“) across urban parts of the UK for businesses and ISPs, has today announced that they’ve “refreshed” their suite of wholesale Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based products aimed at businesses that need to get digital-ready.
Just to recap. ITS’ XGS-PON-enabled (10Gbps capable) network is currently said to “pass” approximately 465,000 businesses (inc. commercial premises), and they can “reach the rest” through their trusted operator partners’ infrastructure, which includes BT Wholesale, Sky, PXC (TalkTalk Wholesale), and Virgin Media Business.
As part of the portfolio refresh, ITS has reintroduced an overhauled FibreOne service. Developed as the full fibre wholesaler’s most cost-effective entry-level business-grade asymmetrical solution, it is available with download speeds of up to 1Gbps. Launched in two phases, FibreOne will initially be available in 22 towns and cities across the country. A further 24 locations are expected to go live later this year.
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ITS has also refreshed its FibreLight FTTP product set, which now offers a fully symmetrical (XGS-PON) Ethernet over FTTP (EoFTTP) service designed with “guaranteed ‘always on’ access to 20% of the ordered speed” (the remaining bandwidth is burstable, providing the performance demanded by businesses when they need it). FibreLight can be upgraded through enhanced service level agreements (SLA).
Coverage and Availability of FibreOne (First Phase):
Acocks Green, Arnold, Birmingham, Bury, Burton upon Trent, Chorley, Derby , Edinburgh, Ilkeston, Ipswich, Lincoln, Newark-on-Trent, Nottingham, Oldham, Plymouth, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Twickenham, Walsall, Watford, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton
Pete England, ITS’ Head of Product Development, said:
“Working with our partners, in FibreOne we have developed a product set that helps them to provide the right connectivity services for their customers’ needs. The redevelopment of this entry-level service has filled a void for our partners who were asking for a business-grade solution that will help them to migrate customers from copper-based services including ADSL and Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC).
Our product portfolio has been designed to grow with end-user demands, which includes upfront customisable options and future scalability. While FibreOne increases ITS’ geographic reach to allow more businesses to get on to the full fibre ladder, it complements the existing reach of our FibreLight product – which with many of the attributes of a leased line is really helping our partners to differentiate in a noisy marketplace. For those looking for a truly managed service, it is seamless for our partners to upgrade their customers from FibreLight to a dedicated FibreBright leased line in life.”
All of ITS’ FTTP portfolio are offered with a fixed IPv4 address with upgrade options of enhanced business care level, additional fixed IPv4 addresses, and dedicated project management services for complex or multi-site projects. ITS’ connectivity and value-added services are accessed through its self-service Partner Portal. As part of this launch, ITS has updated its service and availability checker, splitting out the business broadband (FTTP) and leased line options to allow more focused searches.
That really looks like Wayne Rooney!
I wish they’d make their services a bit easier to buy – I want to be able to check the availability before approaching a couple of ISPs and asking for quotes. The current model has you approaching the ISP first and hoping they’re an ITS partner (because ITS don’t list where you can buy from on their site) and in this market you won’t just get a “no, sorry” as an answer if you’re not on their network, you’ll get an upsell to EAD or a request to take time out of your day to have a meeting so they can “discuss your requirements”. Make it easier to buy your services please, not every B2B transaction for basic connectivity needs an account manager and a sales presentation.
Hi Jonny,
You can check availability and fill out a contact form to gain help via our Faster Britain website: https://fasterbritain.com/
Pete
It’s a shame they aren’t branching out into consumer Broadband.
Burton upon Trent has no Alt-Net and very little OR FTTP. They could make a decent amount of money.
Depending where you are in Burton:
Netomnia are working through some areas (Youfibre)
Nextfibre are doing some VM infill (not yet wholesaled – but “soon”)
Virgin should be available to most, but agree there isn’t much current competition.
It’d be worth keeping an eye on FullFibre ltd (befibre) as they seem to be doing where Netomnia aren’t in Swad. (Sadly, I’d prefer Netomnia)
I can’t see BT ignoring Burton much longer, that area is a bit of a mess though with lots of alu phonelines, and direct buried cabling. It’ll likely be a “lots more poles” job in a few places.
I’ve checked both of those providers and just last week they said we aren’t in the plan, it’s only Swad.
I’ve got Virgin so I’m not too stuck personally, I’d like a better upload speed though and not have to deal with their CS. The price dance is a nightmare too.
I’ve noticed Nextfibre doing the rounds, I wonder if they’ll allow those of us on RFOG to upgrade to XGS once the newer areas are live.