UKIB Boost Wildanet’s Cornwall UK FTTP Broadband Rollout with £35m UPDATE

The UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB), which was setup by the previous government to help crowd-in private investment for infrastructure projects, has today committed £35m to help alternative network provider Wildanet accelerate their rollout of gigabit-capable full fibre broadband across South West England.

The provider, which originally started life as a fixed wireless ISP in the same area, has spent the past few years deploying Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology across the region – mostly around rural parts of Cornwall. Back in January 2023 they also secured the £36m state aid fuelled Project Gigabit broadband contract to cover more than 19,250 premises in the county (here), which was followed in April 2024 by a £41.2m contract to connect 16,800 premises across the rest of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (here).

The big news today is that Wildanet has just secured an additional investment of £35 million from the UKIB, which is expected to “provide up to a further 20,000 homes and businesses with significantly faster broadband connections” (i.e. gigabit speed FTTP).

Interestingly, the Bank’s financing, alongside a revolving credit facility from Santander structured with the assistance of Deloitte, is specifically expressed as being intended to directly “support” Wildanet’s work in Cornwall as part of their two Project Gigabit contract awards for the region.

Ian Brown, UKIB’s Head of Banking and Investment, said:

“The nature of Cornwall’s location and its geography makes it one of the most difficult to reach places for internet providers and as a result has lower speeds than the UK average.

Our financing for Wildanet’s rollout will support communities and grow economies that would otherwise miss out on the benefits associated with improved connectivity.”

Helen Wylde-Archibald, CEO of Wildanet, said:

“Today’s announcement supports and accelerates our far-reaching roll out plans for Cornwall and unlocks growth in our own company as we continue our mission to transform connectivity and opportunities in Cornwall, at the same time as creating a dynamic, profitable and sustainable business.

Wildanet’s success in forging strong partnerships with both national and local government, with institutional investors and banks, is delivering new investment into Cornwall. We’re proud of these achievements and the leading role we are playing as a champion for digital inclusion and the creation of a modern digital economy in the South West.”

Customers of the service typically pay from £29 per month to receive a 200Mbps (40Mbps upload) package on a 24-month term with free installation, which rises to £69 if you want their top 900Mbps (200Mbps upload) package. The provider also offers a Social Tariff for those on state benefits, which gives you 50Mbps (20Mbps upload) speeds for just £19 per month on a 12-month contract.

UPDATE 17th July 2024

New data from Thinkbroadband estimates that Wildanet has so far covered around 29,000 premises with their FTTP network, which is a fair bit short of the 50,000 they originally planned to reach by the end of 2023. But we should add that TBB’s figures may lag a few short months behind the actual roll-out, due to the laborious process of checking.