Gigaclear Extends UK Rural FTTP Broadband Cover to 580,000 Premises

Abingdon-based rural ISP and full fibre network builder Gigaclear has today celebrated a “record year of growth in 2024” after adding 40,000 new customers (up almost 50% in the year) to total over 130,000, while also extending their network coverage to 580,000 premises as ‘Ready for Service’ (up by 100k in the year).

Nathan Rundle, CEO of Gigaclear, said: “Our mission is to bring the fastest full fibre broadband to rural Britain so I am delighted to report that we have connected more hard to reach customers in 2024 than ever before. As the year draws to a close, I would like to thank the Gigaclear team for their contributions towards achieving this important milestone and I look forward to continued growth in 2025.”

Suffice to say that the operator is rightly pleased with the progress they’ve made, although it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Gigaclear also got into some hot water in Essex due to a legal dispute over contract delivery (here) and are being investigated by Ofcom over their possible failure to “provide accurate and reliable caller location information to emergency organisations“ (here).

The provider also recently moved to slow its deployments and cut some jobs as part of “planning for the next stage of its development” and a “re-focus on ultra-rural areas“ (here). But the rural ISP said that it would build on this year’s record figures to “help drive economic growth in 2025“, not least by “ensuring that even more rural homes and businesses are benefitting from ultrafast broadband.”