UK Broadband ISP Voneus Give Pembs Homes 45 Days Notice of Disconnection UPDATE2
Alternative rural internet provider Voneus, which has built a mix of full fibre (FTTP) and wireless (FWA) broadband networks over some of Wales and England’s most remote communities, have chosen Christmas to be the time when they give some Pembrokeshire homes 45 days’ notice of future service “termination” due to a local network “redesign“.
ISPreview hasn’t yet received enough feedback to assess exactly how many premises or customers are likely to be impacted by this, but it appears to be focused on a small number of customers in a remote area between Mathry and Castle Morris (SA62 5ES).
Customers in this area received a somewhat unwelcome pre-Christmas message from Voneus at the very end of last week, which informed them that the provider was busy “redesigning our network and the delivery of our services” and that, as a result of this, they would “no longer be able to provide you with the current [wireless] broadband service“.
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Homes impacted by this have at least been given 45 days’ notice about the “termination” of their broadband service, although we should add that anybody who takes a VoIP based “digital landline” phone service from Voneus will also lose access to that on the same date.
Customer Email from Voneus
Dear XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX
We are writing to inform you that we are redesigning our network and the delivery of our services. As a result, Voneus will no longer be able to provide you with the current FWA broadband service.
Therefore regrettably, this notice provides you with 45 days’ notice of termination of your broadband service which will terminate on 2 February 2026.
If you have been paying for your broadband service, we want to assure you that all future billing from the date the broadband service terminates will also terminate. Advanced charges, where applicable, will be refunded automatically. There will be no further charges for your broadband service from us beyond the broadband service termination date.
If you currently have a VOIP digital landline service with us, please be aware that this service will also cease on the broadband termination date. We will retain your phone number for up to 45 days from the termination date. If you wish to keep your number, you must request your new provider to port this number within the 45-day window.
You do not need to cancel your contract, as we will cancel your contract at XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, SA62 5ES effective on the termination date.
We’re truly sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any questions or require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our customer support team directly at 0333 880 4141 (option 2) or via email at helpdesk@voneus.com.
Best wishes,
Voneus
Sadly, it’s not the first time that Voneus has caused frustration for some of the rural communities they serve in remote parts of Wales (here and here), although sending this latest message out immediately before Christmas week is perhaps not the best example of good timing. But a quick check suggests that at least some of this area is now covered by Openreach’s fibre (FTTP) network.
The move comes shortly after Voneus announced that they had strengthened their position for “long-term growth” with a business reorganisation and secured funding through to 2030 (here). But that same announcement also warned of how they’d be undertaking a “business reorganisation to ensure operational efficiency and future scalability,” which is expected to result in further job cuts and “outsourcing of some business functions” as the ISP looks to cut its costs.
ISPreview contacted Voneus for a comment about this yesterday afternoon and we await their response.
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UPDATE 2:11pm
Further feedback suggests that the same issue may also be impacting customers within the SA64 0JL postcode area, which is further to the west, on the coast around Tresinwen.
UPDATE 4:07pm
A Voneus spokesperson told ISPreview:
“We are committed to keeping our customers connected wherever possible. Following a review of our FWA service in the area, we have made the decision to decommission this part of our network with only a very small number of customers are affected. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and confirm that all those affected have been contacted directly.”
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Looking at its accounts its losses appear to have grown substantially
Where does that leave any VOIP customer worried about losing their number? They’re probably better off porting it now while still active, rather than wait for it to be disconnected.
Say what you want about Openreach, but at least you know they’re not going away; whenever the altnet market undergoes any sort of correction people are left high and dry.
Think the problem here is they were selling a wireless service to an area where full fibre has now been rolled out. That is never going to be a viable proposition.
It does look like Openreach FTTP is now available in that postcode according to Think Broadband but 45 days is a very short notice period especially if you are in a long contract.
>>Say what you want about Openreach, but at least you know they’re not going away
Yes except – aren’t they doing the something similar with pstn services? Ok they have people a lot of notice and didn’t cancel anything still in contract – fair enough.
But – they will have made the overall costs of service to the end users increase by forcing someone (the communication providers ie their customers) who then offer ‘free migration’ to end users (ahem on a new 24 month contract) to pay for the install/migration/cease of pstn services, for people who are perfectly happy with the service and speed they get now. I’m sure that’s a small number, but still.
“Sorry we’re no longer dealing with the letting agent who arranged your original tenancy agreement, but don’t worry, for just £99 you can sign a new agreement with our new letting agent” isn’t that basically extortion?
Yes I understand the changes in the cost to supply the service, it just seems bizarre to be allowed ‘we want to save money so you need to pay us something so you can also save some money’.
“We’re truly sorry for any inconvenience this may cause”
No you’re not. If you were, you would have given 6 months notice. That’s a more reasonable time for people to assess the options and buy and install a replacement service.
I assume there is some sort of dispute with wherever the base station is located, otherwise they could just run this service as-is until the hardware failed while trying to nudge people off it.
Maybe it is legacy kit they took over in an acquisition that is too costly or impossible to maintain now and not viable to replace as FTTP is becoming available from O.R. ?
If Openreach had undertaken such an action, there would be national uproar. Where are the regulators in such circumstances?
No USO on altnets I guess. Although I would have thought there should be an obligation to preserve their phone number until a suitable transfer can be found
What a passively worded not-pology!
When someone says they’re sorry for “any inconvenience”, you know they have put no effort into considering the timing and the impact they’ve just decided to cause.
To everyone else, Voneus still offers their “stress-free christmas”. They claim to “do our best to minimise the disruption” of their infrastructure works as they “[bring] reliable broadband connectivity to the heart of Welsh communities” as Voneus’ “focus is on hard-to-reach communities delivering robust and reliable connections where many national providers fall short”.
Yes, one would imagine they have been forced into this, and this shows the customers are at the other end of the food chain for them. But property access disputes would (should?) never arise with less than two months’ notice.
Are these people under contract? If yes it shows again that ISP contracts, dont mean anything for the consumers on ISP obligations, they one sided.
ISP Review reported last month that Voneus disconnected customers rather than repair service after third party damage. Now more customers disconnected.
Sounds like they may be running out of money.
Think they might be shutting down the old broadway partners network, have also communicating to communities in Scotland with no recent service and leaving them to fend for themselves – not ideal way to do business ..
Voneus also pulled out of our village in Priddy Somerset a few months ago, same 45 days notice.
It is possible that there were plans to upgrade these networks, particularly given that fixed wireless access and rural FTTP represents a substantial proportion of the contracted customer base.
Options such as voucher schemes may have been considered; however, the feasibility of these approaches may have required clarification at leadership level, as many areas were subject to procurement and the strategic interdependencies were not understood at all at the time……no vouchers, no upgrade and absolutely no clue – far from good and very far from great.