A new wholesale agreement between BT Wholesale and AllPoints Fibre (APFN) has today been announced, which among other things means that anchor tenant ISP Cuckoo will be able to offer full fibre broadband (FTTP) packages via Openreach’s network.. again (some related services were withdrawn earlier this year and customers booted to a different ISP).
Just to recap. Cuckoo is currently still in the process of becoming the main retail broadband ISP outlet for Fern Trading’s (Octopus Investments) consolidated UK full fibre networks (Jurassic Fibre, Swish Fibre and Giganet) – under the APFN brand. Cuckoo also sells packages via CityFibre’s national network and, prior to all that, they used to have wide FTTC and FTTP coverage via Openreach’s national network too.
However, the situation took an unexpected turn at the start of this year, which occurred after Cuckoo stopped selling Openreach’s FTTP based packages to new customers (this came months after they’d also withdrawn FTTC services – here). This was then, almost immediately, followed by the somewhat more shocking decision to boot some of those same customers off their platform and on to a different ISP (here) – an unusual move in such an aggressively competitive market.
Cuckoo later clarified to ISPreview that their “existing copper customer base alongside a small cohort of FTTP customers connected via TalkTalk” (i.e. the lines based off their TT Wholesale agreement) would be the ones transferred to the new provider (Home Telecom). But the provider also confusingly stated that they were planning a “further national expansion” later in 2024, which would reintroduce support for Openreach’s fibre.
The first hints that Openreach might be returned to the fold came a few weeks ago, after several of ISPreview’s readers began reporting that Cuckoo had started accepting sign-ups in some of Openreach’s FTTP areas, including those that had previously been stopped. The development has today been confirmed as part of a new agreement between BTW and APFN.
Jarlath Finnegan, APFN Group CEO, said:
“Our close and growing partnership with BT Wholesale is a key part of our strategic plans. We’re delighted to be working with them and look forward to many years of collaboration ahead.”
Gavin Jones, Channel Director of BT Wholesale, said:
“We’re pleased to be working with APFN as they gain access to our full fibre services, opening up the benefits of enhanced connectivity to more customers, to support a range of uses and devices.”
The challenge for Cuckoo will now be in rebuilding their reputation and consumer trust, which inevitably took a bit of a hit after the previous events. Discarding a base like that, only to reintroduce support for the same underling network a few months later, is not a good look. But this does at least help to support yesterday’s Giganet news (here), since that migration will also include a few Openreach based customers (as well as those on Cityfibre and Giganet’s own FTTP).
Otherwise, Cuckoo is now charging the same price for their Openreach based FTTP packages as for their CityFibre ones, albeit with the difference that CityFibre’s network offers faster (symmetric) uploads. Prices start at £28 per month for 150Mbps (25Mbps upload) on a 24-month term, which rises to £35 for 500Mbps (70Mbps) and £42 for 900Mbps (110Mbps). You also get a £50 shopping card on their 500Mbps tier and £100 on 900Mbps.