How AltNet providers are powering the UK’s digital revolution
The UK’s broadband infrastructure is undergoing a nationwide upgrade to deliver super-fast, full-fibre broadband. It’s part of the government’s pledge to connect a third of homes to high-speed networks by 2025. And if everything goes to plan, we’ll see nationwide coverage by 2030. That means every single person in the UK will experience the benefits of fast, reliable, and affordable networks.
The demand for upgraded infrastructure has created the perfect business environment for new, independent, and dynamic companies willing to do things a little differently.
In this case, they’re called alternative internet providers (or AltNets). And these ambitious, forward-thinking companies are crucial in ensuring the UK is fully prepared to take advantage of the next wave of digital innovations.
Here’s a look at the UK’s upcoming plans for its digital revolution and how AltNets will help deliver them.
Project Gigabit
Project Gigabit is a £5 billion government project to enable and deliver fast and reliable digital connectivity.
“Project Gigabit is the rocket boost that we need to get lightning-fast broadband to all areas of the country, ” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “This broadband revolution will fire up people’s businesses and homes, and the vital public services that we all rely on, so we can continue to level up and build back better from this pandemic.”
“There will be no more battling over the bandwidth, more freedom to live and work anywhere in the country, and tens of thousands of new jobs created as we deliver a game-changing infrastructure upgrade.”
Investing in AltNets
The UK government knows it can’t rely on BT Openreach or the other big-name providers to build, maintain, and operate an entirely new broadband infrastructure. As such, it allocated large parts of the Project Gigabit budget towards helping new companies step up and help.
And it’s not just the government investing big. Private money is pouring into the AltNet space, too. Around £17billlion of private investment is expected over the next few years. And by 2025, investment levels in AltNets will likely exceed £30billion.
CityFibre, one of the UK’s biggest full-fibre AltNets, has just secured £300m in funding from one of its existing shareholders, the Mubadala Investment Company. That’s in addition to the £500m it had received from Mubadala at the end of 2021. In total, CityFibre has raised £1.4bn in the last 12 months; that’s the largest amount of private financing ever secured for a UK-based broadband deployment initiative.
The “appetite for investments in AltNets is clear,”said Greg Mesch, Chief Executive (CEO) of CityFibre. “As the nation’s largest independent full-fibre platform, we’ll use the funds to extend our network even further to reach rural, isolated, and disadvantaged communities. We look forward to participating in the important mission of leaving no one behind.”
The UK AltNet Market
The UK’s AltNet market is booming.
Since 2019, an average of around 30 companies per year have been granted network authorisations, or ‘code powers,’ by regulator Ofcom. Code powers regulate the legal relationships between landowners and certain network operators. They give rights to the providers of these networks to install and maintain digital infrastructure without applying for planning permission.
The UK now has the largest number of AltNet providers in Europe. According to a new report from the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA), more than 100 AltNet companies in the UK have the capability to construct and deploy fibre‑to-the‑premises (FTTP) broadband technology.
And 2022 shows no sign of a slowdown; seven telecom companies received their code powers from Ofcom within the first few months of the new year.
Why AltNets are good for customers
These new companies offer consumers a genuine alternative to the big-name providers. More choice means better levels of service and a truly competitive market that keeps prices affordable.
AlNets are empowering British people and businesses to take advantage of the latest innovations in 5G, remote working, online learning, edge computing, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things and IoT.
They’re changing what it means to live in a town or village. AltNets are laying the foundation for new digital highways that will carry everyone toward a better future full of opportunities, regardless of where they live.
AltNets are for everyone. AltNets are awesome.
