Grain expands 2Gbps UK full fibre broadband network in Oldham, Manchester

Carlisle-based alternative broadband provider Grain (Grain Connect) have begun a new phase to expand their 2Gbps speed point-to-point full fibre (FTTP) network in the the large town of Oldham (Greater Manchester), which already covers areas such as Failsworth, Limeside, Hollins, Coppice, Glodwick, Spring Hill, and Moorhey.

At present Oldham, which is home to a population of around 111,000, already has wide access to several gigabit-capable broadband networks via Openreach, Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre) and Netomnia, as well as a few smaller builds from Hyperoptic and others.

Grain’s deployment in the town is also fairly sizeable and they’re now starting a new expansion phase across a number of new areas (e.g. Stock Brook, Cowhill, White Gate etc.), as well as outward from their existing network patches.

As usual the provider hasn’t said precisely how many premises they intend to cover, how much is being invested or how long this roll-out phase will last. But prices for the service, once live, tend to start at £19.99 per month for speeds of 250Mbps (symmetric) on a 24-month term (£9.99 for the first month of service), which rises to £31.99 for their top 2Gbps tier (£15.99 for the first 9 months of service).

The provider’s packages typically include free installation, unlimited usage, a wireless router (Static IPs and Wi-Fi extenders are also available at extra cost) and pledges no mid-contract price hikes (first term discounts not withstanding). Grain currently aspires to cover 600,000 premises with their full fibre network and they also hold a “longer-term strategy” to exceed 1 million premises passed.