The i3 Group (H2O Networks) Fibrecity project has today revealed which three UK ISPs - Fibreband, Velocity 1 and Vispa - will be among the first to offer its new 100Mbps fibre optic ( FTTH ) broadband services to residents of Bournemouth city on the south coast. The providers will all be offering telephone, TV and superfast broadband services costing from as little as £9.99 per month!

The three Internet Service Providers are offering a variety of packages which allow Bournemouth’s residents to choose a tailor made package to suit their requirements. The broadband speeds range from 25Mbps to 100Mbps with some packages even offering the ability to boost speeds up to 1Gbps, a first for the UK residential market.


Homes in Bournemouth that have already been connected to the Fibrecity network will be contacted to arrange installation of a set-top-box (STB) that will allow them to browse and access the services available from Fibreband, Velocity 1 and Vispa. The STB is being given to Fibrecity network residents FREE of charge and as an introductory offer they will be able to view and record a range of free digital TV channels.

The new network will initially only cover Bournemouth, although an identical Fibrecity development in Dundee is already underway and further cities are expected to follow. We've included several quotes from the related ISPs below and added details from their cheapest packages. Take note that FTTH Fibrecity products do not charge additional line rental for voice services; hence the prices are actually a lot lower than you might think.


Fibreband's cheapest package costs £19.95 per month and offers download speeds of up to 25Mbps (2.5Mbps upload). It comes with Free setup, an unlimited download allowance, a 100Mbps "boost" option (1 hour for £1), Free weekend calls, Free Voicemail and privacy features, Free unlimited calls 24/7 to any other Fibreband customer, Free HD Set Top Box, 40+ TV & HD Channels and Free UK Based Customer Service.


Velocity 1's cheapest package costs £15.99 per month and offers download speeds of up to 8Mbps (?? uploads), Unlimited downloads (fair use policy applies), Over 40 TV and radio channels, Free HD TV set top box and Free weekend calls to UK landlines. The details are generally a bit sparse.


At the time of writing Vispa had not yet added any package details for the new service to its website. This is understandable given the initially limited coverage of Bournemouth’s network and to avoid confusion with forthcoming BT FTTC and FTTH / P packages.

For residents to be able to make use of the Fibrecity network, an engineer needs to fit an Optical Network Termination (ONT) box to the inside of the wall that the outside connection has been made. An Ethernet cable then connects the ONT to the set top box. Fibrecity has committed to reaching 750,000 homes over the next two years.

UPDATE - 2pm

Vispa inform us that they're going to offer £19.95 for 10Mb, £39.95 for 25Mb and £49.95 for 100Mb; like Fibreband. All services come with 40+ TV channels and a 100Mb boost facility.