Former CEO of APFN Becomes Non-Executive Director of Wessex Internet

The former Group CEO of All Points Fibre Networks (APFN), Jarlath Finnegan, has today been appointed as a Non-Executive Director for UK broadband ISP Wessex Internet, which is currently busy extending their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across rural parts of Southern England.

The provider, which also holds several state aid backed Project Gigabit build contracts (i.e. a total of four contracts worth £72m to deliver full fibre broadband across over 53,000 properties in the next four years), currently covers 40,000 premises across parts of Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset with their fibre optic lines (inc. 14,000 customers). Existing deployment plans aim to expand this to 137,000 premises (here).

In his new role as Non-Executive Director, Jarlath will advise on Wessex Internet’s infrastructure strategy and operational and rollout efficiency, drawing on his track record of delivering complex build programmes.

Hector Gibson Fleming, CEO of Wessex Internet, said:

“Jarlath’s appointment strengthens our ability to scale efficiently and deliver transformational connectivity to some of the hardest-to-reach communities in the South West. His deep knowledge of infrastructure rollout and ability to drive performance at pace will be invaluable as we expand under multiple Project Gigabit contracts. This appointment is about adding perspective and experience to an already strong leadership team.”

It’s worth noting that Jarlath was previously the CEO of Giganet, which is also part of APFN. But Giganet was originally born out of M12 Solutions, which prior to all that also helped to support Wessex Internet. The modern telecoms market has many historic connections.