Hyperoptic Wants To Bring 1Gbps FTTP Broadband To 5m Premises By 2025
Hyperoptic raises £100 million and wants to expand its fibre broadband coverage
Hyperoptic plans to bring 1Gbps fibre to the premise (FTTP) broadband to two million homes by 2022 and five million by 2025.
The company, which operates networks in 28 towns and cities across the UK, currently reaches 350,000 homes and businesses but has just raised an additional £100 million to fund the expansion.
The cash is coming from ING, RBS, BNP Paribas and Dutch investment bank NIBC and complements the existing £75 million it has raised, including £21 million from the European Investment Bank.
Hyperoptic broadband
“We are proud to have created a network of gigabit cities where residents can live and work without connectivity constraints,” said Hyperoptic CEO Dana Tobak “Through private funding and partnerships with developers, freeholders, and councils we have hugely increased our footprint – but it’s our customers that have been the biggest catalyst in fuelling our growth.
“Our customers have really supported us by sharing their experiences with their neighbours, family and friends, which has meant that we have been able to expedite our rollouts across urban centres. This new round of funding enables us to offer even more people a credible broadband alternative that is future-proofed for decades to come.”
Hyperoptic hopes to capitalise on areas ‘neglected’ by BT, which itself has turned its attention to FTTP having long been devoted to fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) technology, which makes use of existing copper infrastructure.
Openreach plans to reach 12 million homes by the end of the decade using a combination of fibre to the premise (FTTP) and G.Fast, which speeds up copper connections. It has also launched a consultation to investigate the feasibility of a wider rollout of FTTP.
Others, including Gigaclear, CityFibre and Virgin Media are also investing in FTTP, while the government is keen to see greater coverage of ‘pure’ fibre.
