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Carlisle-based alternative broadband ISP Grain, which in 2025 secured a £225m funding boost (here) and has already built their point-to-point full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 270,000 UK premises (aiming for 600,000 in the future), has today continued the drip feed of new network expansion announcements by adding Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire (England) to their list.
The port town of Goole, which is home to around 20,000 people, is an interesting choice for Grain because it’s already been covered by gigabit-capable broadband networks from Openreach (BT) and KCOM. The area is also quite small, which would normally make it quite high risk for a third network operator to consider, although Grain clearly believes that their lower cost approach to build and cheaper consumer pricing will work.
As usual, Grain hasn’t revealed precisely how many premises they intend to cover in the town or when the build will complete, although we did get some information on their roll-out plan. “The build will begin shortly, with first connections expected in Spring. Goole will be joining our growing Full Fibre network across the UK – and we’re only just getting started,” said the announcement.
Recent data from local street works indicates that Grain will be focusing their initial roll-out around the central parts of the town, just above the main railway line that runs through the middle of it – near Boothferry road. Most of those works are due to get underway in early February 2026, with a few starting toward 28th January. Grain are well known for making heavy use of Openreach’s existing cable ducts and putting new services live quite quickly post-build.