Fibre Provider's Weekly Update

Fibre Provider enables the spectrum of organisations driving the UK’s fibre rollout to keep up to date with the latest commercial, regulatory and planning news. As part of this mission, our weekly newsletter compiles the top news that broke during the week and brings it straight to your inbox.

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In this week's news...

Zen to launch WiFi 7 through eero partnership

Zen Internet is set to launch its multi-gigabit broadband packages with speeds of up to 2Gbps across its network?this?Autumn.

This comes through a team up with eero, an Amazon company, to introduce eero Pro 6E device as standard, and the eero Max 7 as an upgrade option on all its full fibre Max packages.

WiFi 7 delivers more than twice the maximum throughput and speeds compared to WiFi 6E.

David Barber , Strategy Director,?Zen, said:?“Anyone familiar with?Zen?will know we have always stayed at the forefront of technology and so we are excited to be the first major provider to launch WiFi 7 over our multi-gigabit full fibre services.”?

Fibre Forecast sessions - Autumn programme

Fibreprovider.net are pleased to announce details of our sponsored programme of ‘Fibre Forecasts’, providing fibreprovider.net readers with insights into the challenges, opportunities, strategies, and technologies shaping the UK fibre sector in 2025 and beyond.

These roundtable sessions bring together industry experts to discuss the key issues and innovations driving the UK fibre sector. The insights gained from these discussions form a crucial part of our editorial calendar, appearing on FibreProvider.net, our weekly newsletter, and across social media.

Participants sponsors will have the unique opportunity to showcase their thought leadership and industry expertise.

Fibre Forecast Programme for Autumn 2024

• Assessing Wholesale Model Benefits - Exploring how the wholesale landscape is evolving & how altnets can increase customer take-up by leveraging a balanced wholesale portfolio.
• Evolving Recruitment Priorities- How is the sector finding talent as altnets shift from build engines to sales and marketing organisations? Do skill shortages still plague the sector and how can they be navigated.
• Embedding Efficiency - What partnerships can be leveraged by altnets to build efficiency into their continued build or customer addition processes.

For details on how to participate contact Simon Turton or Heather Miles for details.

ICUK launches One Touch Switching capabilities

Wholesale platform provider ICUK has added One Touch Switching capabilities to Version 22 of its Control Panel portal.

This enables ICUK resellers to manage switch messages and customer transitions between service providers.

ICUK is a recognised Managed Access Provider MAP with TOTSCo, and its software is suitable for supporting One Touch Switching regardless of whether a reseller uses ICUK’s connectivity and voice services, or those of a competitor.

ICUK Sales Director Paul Barnett said: “To our knowledge we are the only wholesale supplier who is offering our partners a fully managed path to the One Touch Switching hub.”

Leicestershire County Council leverages Gigahubs scheme

Leicestershire County Council has teamed with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to boost connectivity in public sector buildings across hard-to-reach areas.

Gigahubs have been created in 43 sites including of schools, libraries, recycling centres and other community hubs. ?? ? The ￡1.5m programme is designed to make the area more attractive for potential future investment from commercial broadband suppliers.?

Councillor Pam Posnett , cabinet member for broadband, said: “This means more children can benefit from cutting-edge digital resources, creates new opportunities to bring communities together and encourages commercial suppliers to bring the fastest speeds to more places. ?

Telecoms Minister Chris Bryant added: " Our investment is more than just a technological upgrade; it's a catalyst for change in Leicestershire. By enhancing connectivity for schools, libraries and public services, we're transforming how communities and individuals engage with the digital world.?

Wessex Internet live for two New Forest town

Wessex Internet has connected the New Forest towns of Sway and Brockenhurst to its full fibre network as it continues to deliver a ￡14m Project Gigabit contract.

The altnet also expects communities in Hordle, Setley, Bisterne and Tyrrell to be completed soon. Overall more than 10,500 properties connected through the contract win.

Through its work in the region, Wessex is also partnering with SPUD, a New Forest based charity that engages communities through a broad programme of art, design, ecology and architecture.

Hector Gibson Fleming , CEO of Wessex Internet, said: “During our early meetings with the Parish Council and residents in Sway where we detailed how we would bring fibre to the region, we became aware of SPUD.

“Their inspiring and eclectic SPUDWORKS base in Sway hosts exhibitions by a range of local, national and international artists; has workshops used by community groups including dementia support activities, art taster sessions and youth projects; provides affordable studio space for emerging artists; and houses their small team of staff.

Wessex will support a video project made by young people that is being shown on a 180-degree screen as part of Hampshire Open Studios, the Art Angels Showcase in September, where amateur artists who have attended workshops at SPUD over the year will share their work, and a joint initiative with the New Forest National Park Authority to support SPUD’s flagship Open Exhibition in December, which will attract work from artists across the region.

Netomnia plugs into The Fibre Café

Netomnia and Brsk have joined The Fibre Café, adding 1.6 million premises to Strategic Imperatives ’s integration platform. ?

The Fibre Café enables network owners to reach a broader customer base and enables ISPs to access a diverse range of network owners and connectivity providers.

Netomnia’s integration allows it to onboard a wider range of ISPs as its network expands.

Jeremy Chelot , CEO of Netomnia and Brsk, said: "Joining The Fibre Café opens up new avenues for collaboration with more ISPs and service providers.

“We aim to serve one million customers by 2028 and so far have 162,000 already on the platform.”

Wail Sabbagh , MD of Strategic Imperatives, said: “By adding Netomnia's extensive network to our platform, we take significant strides towards meeting our objective to provide seamless access to the services of wholesale providers, altnets and ISPs.”

Thanks for reading, and we hope to see you back here next Friday for the latest news update. Be sure to subscribe at the top of this newsletter to get your copy.