Voneus Claims Walney Island Wireless Broadband Build was Fastest in the World

Rural broadband ISP Voneus has today announced the completion of their effort to roll-out a new “Gigabit Wireless Broadband” (FWA) network across 4,700 homes on Walney Island in Cumbria (England), which they say took only 12-weeks to complete and is thus the “fastest ever deployed worldwide.”

The new network, which involved the deployment of Voneus’ kit on top of local council-owned lighting columns (i.e. avoiding disruptive street works), is said to be capable of 1Gbps (symmetric) speeds and is also set to be Cambium Networks’ largest 60GHz cnWave (Terragraph) wireless network in the world. But all that talk about it being the “fastest ever deployed worldwide” is probably a reference to this specific product, rather than wireless networks more generally (either way, there’s no substantiation included to help verify).

Voneus also states that they’re on track to connect 1,000 homes (customers) by late October, which is pretty good going considering the short roll-out. Customers of the new network can expect to pay from £29.99 per month (normally £38.99) for speeds of 250Mbps (inc. free router and installation), which rises to £59.99 for 900Mbps (normally £74.99). The first month of service is being offered for free and the provider pledges no mid-contract price rises during their 24-month term.

Pat McPhilimey, Voneus Head of Wireless Build and Maintenance, said:

“I feel incredibly proud with a huge sense of achievement to have been part of what is a truly game changing deployment of ultrafast broadband across Walney Island.

By connecting so many customers at such an incredible pace means that our better broadband is already helping, supporting and changing the lives of people working from home, families, community groups and school children.”

Dan McCarthy, Cambium Networks’ UK Regional Sales Manager, said:

“Walney Island has experienced the fastest rollout in terms of homes passed ever seen anywhere and it is now the largest Cambium cnWave network in Europe. Now available to over 10,000 residents means Voneus’ has deployed the largest Cambium cnWave network in the world.”

Until recently Voneus was being backed by up to £250m from investors including Macquarie Capital, IIF, Tiger Infrastructure Partners and bank lenders. But they’ve since secured a further £25m investment boost from Global Connectivity PLC (G-CON) in January 2024 and then an injection of £18m (capital) from Rural Broadband Solutions Holdings Limited (RBSHL) in June 2024 (here).

The G-CON and RBSHL investments are closely connected because G-CON holds a sizeable stake in RBSHL (RBSHL now has a 41% stake in Voneus). G-CON has also previously signalled that they would “appeal to strategic buyers within the next 12-18 month” and are planning to take the RBSHL ownership to “at least 44%” in the not-too-distant future.