Rural full-fibre company County Broadband has secured another £100 million in private investment to extend its full-fibre rollout for a targeted 500,000 premises across the region.
Local businesses can check if they are covered in County Broadband’s rollout by entering their postcode at countybroadband.co.uk.
The alternative network provider (alt-net), is delivering fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) infrastructure to villages across Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire after receiving a £46m investment from Aviva Investors in 2018 as part of a long-term commitment to digitally future-proof the region.
The combined near £150m funding will enable County Broadband to significantly extend the reach of its rural network with an ambition to pass half a million businesses and homes by the end of 2027. The internet service provider (ISP) has also set out plans to double its workforce to over 250 and invest in local skills and apprentices whilst engaging with regional suppliers.
The full-fibre provider specialises in connecting rural communities that only have access to Superfast, copper-based fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) technology that the government has said will need to be upgraded to gigabit-capable alternatives to cope with the connectivity demands of the future.
The government has set a flagship target to deliver nationwide gigabit-capable speeds (1,000 Mbps+) in the UK by 2030 to boost economic growth. This has led to significant investment in alt-nets with a new report from the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) and Point Topic estimating that the alt-net industry plans to cover nearly 30m premises by the end of 2025.
Full-fibre broadband uses fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) infrastructure where fibre optic cables are installed directly into the premises, providing download and uploads speeds of 1,000 Mbps. It replaces fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) copper-based infrastructure on which ‘Superfast’ is based.
County Broadband says investment in full-fibre is crucial to keep up with today’s data demands from consumers and businesses for hybrid working, streaming and accessing online services.
Founder Lloyd Felton said: “Building new broadband infrastructure is a complex task and whilst our plans are ambitious, they are grounded in reality as we understand the importance of delivering on the promises we make.
Chris Starkie, CEO of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), added: “Digital connectivity is more important than ever for businesses and their employees due to the seismic shift towards remote working, and this investment in full-fibre for rural areas is great news.
“As highlighted in the Norfolk & Suffolk Economic Strategy, fast and reliable broadband is going to be essential for regenerating communities such as our market towns, giving companies the infrastructure to operate and create jobs away from our busier urban centres.”
Sean McLachlan, of Infrastructure Equity at Aviva Investors, concluded: “We are pleased to extend Aviva Investors’ partnership with County Broadband following our initial investment made in 2018. The rollout of fibre to homes and places of work represents a project with high social value and community benefits, particularly as families and businesses settle into hybrid working, where fast and reliable internet connections into the home are increasingly important and relied upon.”