First Homes Live on Freedom Fibre’s Shropshire UK Project Gigabit Broadband Build

Alternative network operator Freedom Fibre has today announced that the first homes have gone live on their new full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network in North Shropshire (England), which is being delivered as part of their £24m (state aid) LOT 25.02 Project Gigabit contract (here) to cover “around” 12,000 hard-to-reach rural homes.

In case anybody has forgotten, the original announcement in May 2023 stated that the first properties could start to go live from October 2024 and that the 3-year deployment was then expected to complete by around mid-2026. Suffice to say that the work (build commenced in March 2024) has taken a bit longer than expected, but the first 1,600 homes in Hadnall, High Ercall, Walton, Shawbury, and Bowmere Heath are now ready to connect.

Additionally, Freedom Fibre added that hundreds more homes can access more reliable broadband with speeds up to 1Gbps through their complementary commercial build (they actually wrote “1GB”, so we’ll add the usual moan about ‘bits’ vs ‘Bytes’), with service available from a variety of ISPs on their platform (e.g. TalkTalk, iDNET, Home Telecom, Fusion Fibre Group, Squirrel Internet, Yayzi etc.).

Chris Beane from Shrewsbury Road in Hadnall (pictured – top) was the first to connect to the upgraded service, successfully benefiting from 900Mbps symmetrical speeds.

Nathan Vautier, Freedom Fibre CEO, said:

“Digital equity is necessary for all, and we are proud to have reached this milestone in our journey to offer an upgraded internet service to those in North Shropshire’s hard-to-reach areas.

The economic and social benefits to residents and businesses are significant, and we are grateful to BDUK, Shropshire Council, Telford and Wrekin Council and community leaders that have supported the delivery of the project so far.”

Telecoms Minister, Sir Chris Bryant, said:

“Fast, reliable internet is about more than watching your favourite TV shows or playing online games without buffering. It can help to bridge inequalities across the country and boost economic growth as part of our Plan for Change, allowing remote areas to access vital online services like job applications, schooling, and calls with a doctor.

This is why I am thrilled to hear that hard-to-reach homes and businesses in North Shropshire are now being equipped with the fastest speeds on the market and are ready to thrive in the digital world.”

Freedom Fibre added that their community focused Freedom Fund will also relaunch in the Spring of 2025 for the final time and will make £25,000 available to community non-profit groups delivering environmental projects. The fund has previously supported a range of projects such as community orchards and gardens, solar panels, and habitat improvement projects.