Freedom Fibre on track for major Q4 scale up to deliver 50k homes by mid-2022
As a new telecoms ‘altnet’, we are ahead of plan as we rapidly scale up from our March 2021 start.
We have now secured a second round of equity injection following a successful first six months since our inception in March.
We are a B2B2C Full Fibre to the premises (FTTP) network provider and now expect to exit the year with £30m of capital as part of our continued scale and growth plans.
The new capital injection and rapid operational progress provides confidence to the target of bringing 50,000 homes into the Freedom Fibre network by mid-2022, with further scale funding anticipated from mid-2022 onwards.
We are currently delivering ultra-fast broadband to an initial build of 5,000 homes in Culcheth, Cheshire, with minimal disruption to residents through our extensive use of existing infrastructure.
This initial project is now nearing completion, and the first customers in the village have been connected to ultra-fast broadband.
A target to give full fibre access to 12,000 homes in Culcheth and other north west areas is on track for the end of this year.
Freedom Fibre connects communities which suffer from poor broadband speeds, or would like to benefit from FTTP, often in rural or ‘semi-urban’ locations, as well as more densely populated urban locations, to ensure “connectivity for everyone”.
We have already signed a wholesale agreement with TalkTalk to take its fibre optic connections and will be seeking to add other ISPs as we scale.
The deal enables TalkTalk to offer ultra-fast broadband services to consumers in semi-urban areas, which are numerous in the north west.
We intend to utilise the Government Gigabit Voucher Scheme for the hardest to reach rural areas where broadband is more costly to build, allowing is to offer connectivity to more residents and to accelerate our commercial development plans.
Freedom Fibre was founded by Neil McArthur, who has 30 years’ experience in UK Telecoms.
Neil McArthur founded Opal Telecom, which led to the creation of TalkTalk Telecom. He has recruited a leadership team for Freedom Fibre which is highly experienced in broadband roll-out.
He says: “Freedom Fibre firmly believes Full Fibre should be a right, accessible to all, and not a privilege. We are delighted at the progress of the business to date and look forward to expanding our network as part of the Government’s drive to roll out gigabit broadband to homes and businesses across the nation.”