TfW Fibre Seek Code Powers to Support Railway Based Fibre Rollout in Wales

In a not unexpected development, network operator TfW Ffeibr (TFW Fibre), which is an arm’s-length initiative setup by Transport for Wales (TfW) – itself owned by the Welsh Government (WG), has applied for Code Powers from Ofcom in order to boost their plans for a full fibre broadband network that runs alongside local railways.

Such operators typically seek Code Powers from Ofcom in order to help speed-up deployments of new fibre networks and cut costs, not least by reducing the number of licences needed for street works. The powers can also help with supporting access to run new fibre via Openreach’s (BT) existing cable ducts and poles (PIA).

All of this is very relevant for TfW Ffeibr, which toward the end of last year announced that they had built a new full fibre broadband network alongside the railways and were offering access to help serve local communities (here). This occurred along the South Wales Metro and while carrying out huge infrastructure changes to electrify the railway line in the South Wales Valleys.

In short, the new operator was established to offer internet service providers (ISP) access to the new infrastructure via wholesale. The network itself currently runs through Wales’ Core Valley routes and into the Capital City region, connecting some of the hardest-to-reach places in Wales.

Extract from Ofcom’s Code Powers Application

The Applicant seeks Code powers to facilitate the deployment of FTTP broadband internet (gigabit-capable) through railway line land, which run through rural and urban areas in Wales. These are known as the “Core Valley Lines”.

The Applicant seeks Code powers to offer managed services, which the Applicant intends to lease to customers on a wholesale basis. The Applicant intends to lease these services to the public sector, in addition to business and residential customers.

The Applicant proposes the managed services are built directly to residential and business premises, both via Openreach’s physical infrastructure (PIA) services and self-dig.

The Applicant also intends to offer dark fibre to other electronic communication network providers on the railway line land.

The Applicant’s initial data centres will be in Wales. However, there is scope for the Applicant to extend to other data centres across the United Kingdom.

The new application doesn’t tell us anything particularly new, but it does show that the network build is far from finished and more work is due to take place in the future.