Network operator and UK ISP Connect Fiber (Fibre Assets Ltd.) has announced today that their ongoing deployment of a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband service, which aims to cover 100,000 premises across the East of England , has been extended into Nottinghamshire (England).
The operator, which is being backed by an unspecified amount of funding from the Foresight Group (here), is currently rolling out a new open access (wholesale) full fiber network – using XGS PON technology from ADTRAN – Across the small East Cambridgeshire village of reach (via local ISP partner Air Broadband) and the large village of Sutton in the Isle.
Pictured Top: From Left to Right – Ceren Clulow (Digital Connectivity Manager Nottinghamshire County Council), Keith Girling (Nottinghamshire County Councilor), Jamie Grocock (Connect Fiber Build Manager) and Stefan Stanislawski (Connect Fiber CEO & Co-Founder).
The good news is that they’ve announced today their ambition to extend into various locations across the county of Nottinghamshirewhich will start with the large village and civil parish of Edwinstowe (home to a population of c. 5,200). Connect Fiber has already started work on the £1m deployment, and the first customers are due to go live sometime this summer.
Customers typically pay from £25 per month for an unlimited 50Mbps (symmetric speed) package on an 18-month term, which rises to just £50 per month for their top 900Mbps plan. All packages include a wireless router, UK support and free setup.
Stefan Stanislawski, Connect Fiber Co-founder and CEO, said:
“I have been visiting Edwinstowe over the past three years as part of the 5G Connected Forest project which generated interesting and thought-provoking results in terms of the complementarity of mobile networks and fiber networks. On my many visits I’ve grown to admire Edwinstowe and the industrious nature of the community here. We are extremely pleased to deliver our full fiber broadband which will be just fabulous to use. Fairer, faster, flawless.”
Keith Girling, Nottinghamshire County Councilor, said:
“Being better connected is essential for the way we work, learn, and communicate. So having these alternative broadband networks is great news for residents and businesses in the area. As a council we have worked closely with this provider, as they have strong links with Netmore, one of our partners for our world-leading 5G Connected Forest research project.
Their know-how brought a 5G network to a forest setting so that experts were able to test how 5G technology can boost tourism and the environment.”
The move represents wonderful news for those living in the county, although it should be noted that Edwinstowe will soon be home to several gigabit-capable broadband networks. Both Full Fiber Limited (here) and Openreach have added the same town to their respective rollout plans, which is good for consumers as there will be plenty of choice, albeit with the catch of making it harder for each operator to make their business models work .