Altnet UK ISP Grain to Expand Bolton’s FTTP Broadband Network

Alternative network provider Grain (Grain Connect), which has so far grown their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to cover 220k UK premises RFS (21st May 2024) and 30k customers, has just announced that they’re going to expand their existing deployment in the Greater Manchester town of Bolton.

The operator’s full fibre network can currently be found in parts of 59 UK locations (plus over 150 new build housing developments), which includes a lot of small-to-modest sized patches of various urban areas like Leicester, Liverpool, Accrington, Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Scarborough, Carlisle, Barrow-in-Furness, Hartlepool, Newport, Sunderland, Blackburn and so forth.

The deployment in Bolton was originally announced all the way back in 2021 (here) and was one of their earliest projects. At present most of Grain’s coverage in Bolton can be found in the southern half of the town, such as around Deane, Daubhill and over toward Great Lever. But the operator has announced that they now intend to expand this coverage and are already reaching into and beyond the Haslam Park area near Deane.

“We’re pleased to announce the expansion of our Full Fibre broadband network in Bolton. We’re delivering faster, reliable internet to even more homes in Bolton in the Haslam Park area. More residents can now experience the speed and reliability of Full Fibre from Grain,” said a spokesperson for the operator.

At present Grain’s main gigabit-capable competitors in their areas of build are CityFibre and Virgin Media (O2), although Openreach are busy expanding toward them in the town and Hyperoptic also have a few small patches nearby. Not to mention IX Wireless’ (6G Internet) broadband network, although they’ve yet to launch a 1Gbps class service (fastest is 300Mbps).

Customers of the new service normally pay from just £19.99 per month for a symmetric 150Mbps package on an 18-month term, which goes up to just £29.99 for their top 900Mbps plan (take note that out-of-contract prices are £5 higher than this). But new customers can also benefit from a new offer that gives you the first 3 months of service for free.