Cornish ISP Wildanet has secured £35 million from UK Infrastructure Bank to expand their fibre-to-the-premise network. This funding aims to connect an additional 20,000 homes and businesses in Cornwall, enhancing connectivity and driving economic growth.
Hyperoptic has secured a significant £150 million investment from the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB), accelerating their fibre-to-the-home rollout. This latest funding increases Hyperoptic’s total raised this year to £255 million, bringing overall funding to £1.1 billion. The investment highlights strong support for Hyperoptic’s mission to deliver ultra-reliable, hyperfast full fibre broadband.
PCCW has finalized an agreement to sell a 40% stake in its fibre business to China Merchants Group, a state-owned investor, for $870 million. The Hong Kong telecommunications company had been in talks with various potential buyers for months, but officially signed with the Chinese firm.
NEC has introduced a groundbreaking radio-over-fibre system featuring 1-bit fibre transmission, designed to create affordable, compact distributed antenna units (DAUs). This innovative technology transmits high-frequency analogue signals using a cost-effective electrical-to-optical converter, commonly used in digital communications.
Digicel Group has announced the launch of its subsea fibre cable, Deep Blue One, marking a major investment in enhancing international submarine connectivity. This development is poised to significantly improve internet and communication services across the Caribbean and South America, with French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, and Trinidad & Tobago being key beneficiaries.
Broadband infrastructure provider Openreach has unveiled plans to extend its full fibre broadband services to 517 additional locations across the UK, bringing fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) to an extra 2.7 million homes and businesses. This ambitious rollout includes 400,000 homes in rural areas, highlighting Openreach’s commitment to bridging the digital divide.
In a strategic move to bolster its network reach, alternative fibre builder CityFibre has successfully acquired Lit Fibre, marking the first step in its plan to consolidate within the UK’s burgeoning altnet sector. Lit Fibre, known for its vertically integrated model encompassing both network construction and ISP services, currently serves over 220,000 premises across more than 20 towns in several regions.
The landscape of fibre broadband in the UK is rapidly evolving, with over a fifth of premises now enjoying the choice of two or more fibre broadband providers. This development can be attributed to the efforts of alternative network operators across the country.Recent data from Point Topic reveals that nearly two thirds of UK premises, totaling 20.4 million, now have access to fibre broadband as of March-end.
A recent market study by INCA (Independent Networks Cooperative Association) and Point Topic reveals that alternative network builders in the UK have collectively expanded fibre infrastructure to more premises than BT’s Openreach unit. By the end of 2023, UK altnets had reached 12.9 million premises with fibre, exceeding Openreach’s coverage of 12.8 million.
Broadband aficionado, LilaConnect, gears up to provide a defining stride to residents and businesses in Leek and Stoke-on-Trent. It aims to elevate digital living by expanding its highly promising gigabit full-fibre network to over 6,900 properties in the course of 12 weeks. The impact is massive! Visible improvements include swift data transmission, a stable network, and low latency favouring seamless online activities.
