The Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) and England’s Connected Heartland (ECH) have this morning announced that they’ve picked AWTG, a 5G mobile private network supplier, to enhance broadband and mobile connectivity along the soon-to-be reopened passenger railway line between Bicester Village and Bletchley.

The railway line between Bicester Village and Bletchley is part of the East West Rail (EWR) project, which is currently working to improve rail connectivity between Oxford and Cambridge. Passenger services are expected to begin between Bicester and Bletchley in 2025, but it won’t only be the trains and tracks that have been improved.

Funded by the UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the 5G Railway project aims to enhance rail passenger connectivity and bring benefits to businesses and residents along the route. There will be an “extension of fixed wireless broadband to rural communities and trackside business parks“, and to farms to support agri-tech applications.

Councillor Liz Leffman, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said:

“This ambitious project represents a significant leap forward in improving onboard passenger connectivity, and better connecting Oxfordshire’s rural communities.

I am optimistic it will become a blueprint to be replicated on other similar railway routes both locally and nationally.

AWTG’s expertise will allow us to deliver the vision we share with England’s Connected Heartland partners in Buckinghamshire to pioneer a connectivity solution for passengers and be a leader in digital innovation.”

The 5G rail project will additionally seek to develop a combined revenue commercial model for delivering enhanced passenger connectivity through onboard WiFi. Train companies will also be able to offload data collected onboard their services for operational purposes.

Abbey Alidoosti, Chief Executive Officer of AWTG, said:

“The opportunity to address connectivity issues through this project is incredibly exciting, it provides a blueprint on the best solution for connectivity for rail passengers and trackside communities.

We look forward to deploying a solution that not only boosts the passenger experience but also offers invaluable support to the railway industry as a whole. The same solution that addresses digital divide and provides the much needed broadband services for trackside businesses. We are eager to see the outcomes of this initiative and its positive impact on the community and businesses.”

The new project looks set to build on previous efforts to deploy and upgrade trackside fibre optic cables along this route, which will help to provide the backhaul capacity for the new mobile and wireless broadband services.

Councillor The Leader of Buckinghamshire Council, Martin Tett, added: “While 5G is often seen merely as a faster version of 4G, its potential extends far beyond that, offering significant advantages for the UK rail industry. We anticipate that once the benefits of 5G connectivity are proven, awareness and demand for 5G networks in the rail industry will grow exponentially.”

Broadband and mobile operator Vodafone has this afternoon been hit by a £120m+ legal claim (CL-2024-000663), which was filed by 61 current and former UK franchisees who claim to be challenging the “financial, mental, and physical impacts of the retail giant’s “irrational” business decisions“. Something Vodafone “strongly refute“.

The affected Vodafone franchisees, many of which say they started their careers with Vodafone and have been “loyal ambassadors for the brand over the years“, claim that Vodafone – which has recently left the British Franchise Association (BFA) – has “breached its duty of good faith and the terms of the Franchise Agreement“. They allege that Vodafone did this by imposing “irrational and arbitrary business decisions” on them from July 2020.

Andrew Kerr, Rikki Lear and Donna Watton, three former franchisees and members of the claim, say Vodafone’s actions have caused them and their families “severe financial and personal distress including reaching the edge of bankruptcy, potential repossession of their homes, and serious mental health issues” – impacts they allege are felt by others across the programme.

The announcement goes on to highlight several serious allegations against the operator.

The Key Complaints (allegations)

➤ Commission payments and remuneration to the affected franchisees were “cut drastically and with little or no explanation“.

➤ Vodafone benefitted from government business rate reliefs that “were intended for the franchisees“, when they were facing financial distress during Covid

➤ Vodafone are said to have “often failed to pass on rent free periods in its underlease terms to affected franchisees and charged them full rent“, again when many of their businesses were already being squeezed.

“It started off as a dream – and it’s ended up as a nightmare that haunts me every day. I felt I became Vodafone’s piggy bank. They pushed me to the point of financial ruin, and then took away my stores leaving me in crippling debt,” said Andrew Kerr, 42 from Bangor, Northern Ireland.

Andrew claims to have become a franchisee in 2019 and that, with just 14 days’ notice, almost a third of his revenue was wiped out by Vodafone’s decision to cut his commission. Andrew had three stores and eventually lost his business in March 2023. To this day, he is still dealing with the repercussions of Vodafone’s actions. The stress caused is alleged to have led to “serious physical and mental health issues“, he says.

A number of the other franchisees say their stores were also taken away from them with “little notice and no other explanation” than that Vodafone was taking their stores in “a different direction”. All of this culminated in a number of the affected franchisees independently seeking legal advice as a last resort back in October 2022, before coming together to form a group, and now launching this claim.

Throughout pre-action correspondence, Vodafone has consistently denied the allegations, and it is anticipated that the telecoms operators will choose to defend the claim. The claim is now part of court proceedings that are likely to be contested.

A spokesperson for Vodafone told ISPreview:

“We are aware of the allegations and take them very seriously, we are sorry to any franchisee who has had a difficult experience. While we have acknowledged challenges were faced by some franchisees, we strongly refute claims that Vodafone has ‘unjustly enriched’ itself at the expense of small businesses. Our franchise model is a commercial relationship. We offer our franchise partners a large amount of cost-free support, but, as with any business, commercial success is not guaranteed.

The majority of franchise partners are profitable today and we continue to see high demand from the majority of our franchise partners to take on new stores. We maintain that where issues have been raised, we have sought to rectify these and believe we have treated our franchisees fairly.”

The claim alleges that:

➤ The franchisees were sold the programme with the promise of uncapped earning potential, but in reality, were often given commission structures that meant their stores were loss making.

➤ A senior Vodafone figure admitted that a commission cut imposed by the company in July 2020 – with less than 14 days’ notice – had in effect ‘shanked’ a number of franchisees. When asked for documentary evidence to show the rationale for the July 2020 commission cut, Vodafone refused or failed to explain the process it underwent at the time or provide the documents requested.

➤ During the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK government introduced financial support for small businesses, including Business Rates Relief, that was introduced to help small bricks-and-mortar shops carry on trading in financially precarious times. From around 2022, Vodafone gathered information on the relief the franchisees were receiving and then factored this into its cost modelling when calculating the commission paid to the franchisee. This had the effect of depressing or eliminating the benefit those franchisees should have received from government assistance for Vodafone’s own direct benefit.

➤ Vodafone excessively fined and imposed clawbacks on its franchisees. Senior staff were incentivised to fine franchisees, and the franchisees infer that the purpose for such incentives was not purely to ensure franchisee compliance with the relevant procedures, but also with the aim of allowing Vodafone to increase its revenue. A singular fine could be as high as 30% of a store’s commission and even go as far as franchisees having their stores taken away. The severity of the fines, often in the thousands, were often totally disproportionate to the perceived cost of the failure to Vodafone. For example, one franchisee in the claim was fined £21,000 for a £7 customer mischarge.

➤ On numerous occasions, Vodafone took decisions in bad faith that unfairly penalised the franchisees while benefiting the company. For example, Vodafone justified a commission cut through the closure of Carphone Warehouse, citing the extra footfall franchisees should have benefitted from which never materialised. Additionally, Vodafone often failed to pass on rent free periods in its underlease terms to affected franchisees when some of their businesses were already experiencing financial difficulties.

➤ Vodafone stopped paying commission to its franchisees for selling mobile phones despite being one of the UK’s major mobile network operators and being widely known in the UK as place to purchase phones. In 2021, Vodafone decided to only pay commission on the value of the airtime contract increasing Vodafone’s margin from the sale of the physical device.

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has announced that their new 1.8Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network has passed an important milestone by covering 1 million premises across Wales (up from 816,000 in January 2024 and 700,000 in July 2023).

Treorchy’s award-winning Lion Hotel can apparently lay claim to being the 1 millionth Full Fibre enabled property on Openreach’s network in Wales. But it won’t be the last, as they’re continuing to deploy the new network – both commercially and via public investment.

Most of the build in Wales reflects Openreach’s commercial deployment, but that has been complemented by a £52.5m state-aid supported Superfast Cymru contract with the Welsh Government (c.44,000 premises). The operator is also in the process of finalising several Type C contracts for Wales under the UK government’s £5bn Project Gigabit programme (here), which will further extend FTTP into some of the remotest areas.

Suzanne Rutherford, Complex Engineering Wales at Openreach, said:

“Openreach is already leading the way in transforming digital connectivity across Wales and the rest of the UK.

With Full Fibre now available to 1million Welsh homes and businesses, we’re excited about the projected impact this work and our future build will have on local communities, as highlighted in the new report.

By equipping residents and businesses with fast, reliable broadband, we’re not just upgrading internet speeds—we’re laying the groundwork for economic growth, job creation, and increased opportunities for remote work, digital learning, and innovative healthcare access.”

Openreach highlights how a recent report from Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) and Stantec predicted that their ongoing upgrades to Full Fibre broadband across Wales could deliver a £1 billion boost to the Welsh economy by 2029. But we’ve previously explained why such figures should always be taken with a pinch of salt (here), although it’s definitely a welcome and much needed improvement for many areas.

Speaking of investment, Openreach revealed in January 2024 that their roll-out in Wales had cost them £240m+ to deliver (816,000 premises) and delivered take-up of c.34%, which equates to about £294 per premises passed. If we assume this to still be reasonably accurate, then they should have now invested about £294m to reach 1 million premises.

Openreach’s service, once live, can be ordered via various ISPs, such as BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Vodafone and many more (Openreach FTTP ISP Choices) – it is not currently an automatic upgrade, although some ISPs are doing free automatic upgrades as older copper-based services and lines slowly get withdrawn.

Due for completion in 2025, this follows a competitive tender where enhanced network security, resilience and bandwidth availability were high priorities. MLL’s managed SD-WAN solution will also ensure seamless connection for employees to key administrative applications.

The SD-WAN includes dual rather than single circuits and the implementation of Fortinet firewalls. The network will be monitored and supported 24/7 by MLL’s Network Operations Centre (NOC).

“As MLL’s first customer in the Transportation sector we are especially delighted to be providing TransPennine Express with a modern, high quality managed network solution,” said Ross Billington, MLL Strategic Client Services Director. “MLL are very excited to bring our engineering expertise in providing SD-WAN and critical networking infrastructure to a new sector.”

Mark Morgans, Head of IT said “Our customers are at the heart of everything we do and we are continually investing in technology. The provision of SD-WAN into our business will ensure our security and operational platforms are resilient and available which, ultimately will help improve the journey experience for those travelling on our trains.”

TransPennine Express provides rail services for customers across the North of England and into Scotland. 

LONDON, December 9th, 2024 – Gigs, the operating system for mobile services, has partnered with Vodafone UK to empower startups and large tech companies across the UK to launch their own mobile services. 

Together, Gigs and Vodafone UK are drastically lowering the barriers to entry and reducing operational overhead for businesses to launch their own Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).

Through a seamless integration, Gigs’ platform will enable businesses of all sizes to allow their customers to tag on connectivity when making purchases. 

This will allow customers to connect quickly and efficiently to Vodafone’s award-winning network and enable companies to go live in just a few weeks instead of months or even years. 

This positions Gigs as the go-to connectivity platform for tech players seeking to embed phone plans into their offering, deliver exceptional product experiences, and drive both consumer engagement and new recurring revenue streams. 

Hermann Frank, Co-founder and CEO of Gigs, said: “We stand on the brink of a transformative shift in the telecommunications industry. A surging number of tech companies—from neobanks, travel companies to HR platforms—are launching unique product experiences with tailored phone plans to meet the demands of modern consumers and businesses. Our strategic partnership with Vodafone is a win-win-win for all involved. Vodafone extends its network reach to innovative tech companies with large audiences and digital distribution channels, while driving significant mobile traffic to the Gigs platform. Our customers, meanwhile, can now seamlessly bundle their existing offerings with phone plans in their own brand on Vodafone’s premium 5G network.”

Maria Grazia Pecorari, Director of Wholesale & Strategy at Vodafone UK, stated: “By combining our network with Gigs’ operating system we’re able to help businesses of all sizes give their customers or employees connectivity quickly and efficiently. At Vodafone UK, we are committed to fostering innovation and supporting our customers’ evolving needs, that includes giving more people access to our network, more flexibly.”

This is how tech companies can integrate with Gigs

Gigs’ customers can flexibly configure the data, talk, and text allowances of the plans they want to offer and are free to choose their own pricing and branding. Customers can natively build a custom integration in their app using Gigs’ best-in-class telecom API or opt to use Gigs Connect, a no-code hosted checkout that can be embedded anywhere via a link. With Gigs’ fully embedded multi-currency payment suite, customers can manage recurring billing, refunds, taxes and payouts without integrating a 3rd party payment provider.

No matter which integration pathway is chosen, end users can sign up, pay, and activate their eSIM with one tap, and manage their subscription anytime, anywhere. Customers also have access to Gigs Dashboard, a connectivity cockpit that provides a full view of all subscriptions, payments, customer support queries, and analytics in a single interface, all in real-time. 

By making it easy for tech companies in the UK to integrate branded mobile plans directly into their services, Gigs’ partnership with Vodafone UK transforms the way connectivity is distributed and consumed, paving the way for a new wave of mobile service providers. From the world’s biggest neobank, Nubank, to device pioneers like Light, progressive tech companies have already tapped into this opportunity, leveraging Gigs’ telecom platform to enhance their core service with mobile connectivity and turn a profit from day one.

About Vodafone UK

Vodafone UK is a technology communications company that connects people, businesses and devices to help our customers benefit from digital innovation. Our services span mobile, fixed-line connections, home and office broadband, and the Internet of Things (IoT). 

We have a strong track record as a tech pioneer, making the UK’s first mobile phone call, sending the first text message, and making the UK’s first live holographic call using 5G in 2018. We were the first to start carrying live 5G traffic from a site in Salford, Greater Manchester and now have 5G in locations across Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain as well as the UK. Meanwhile, our 4G network coverage currently reaches over 99% of the UK population. 

Today, Vodafone serves more than 18 million mobile and fixed-line customers in the UK. Vodafone is the largest provider of full fibre in the UK – our superfast broadband services are now available to nearly 12 million homes across the UK. 

Sustainability is also at the heart of what we do: as of 1 July 2021, 100% of the grid electricity we use in the UK is certified to be from renewable sources. 

For more information about Vodafone UK, please visit: www.vodafone.co.uk.

About Gigs

Gigs, the operating system for mobile services, empowers tech companies to seamlessly embed connectivity into their offerings in weeks. By bundling phone plans and travel data with their core services, Gigs’ customers can increase stickiness and turn a profit from Day One with mobile experiences that are entirely new for consumers. Gigs’ end-to-end platform provides everything brands need to launch and operate their own multi-market mobile service: premium wholesale connectivity, a hosted checkout, billing, subscription management, analytics, and AI-powered customer service. Backed by Google, Y Combinator, and prominent investors such as Dara Khosrowshahi (CEO of Uber), Tony Xu (Co-founder & CEO of DoorDash), and Fidji Simo (CEO of Instacart), Gigs was founded by Hermann Frank and Dennis Bauer in 2020 and now employs over 90 people across the US and Europe. For more information, visit gigs.com.

NetIX, a global internet exchange platform under the Neterra Group, has achieved a new record, reaching 4.02 Tbps of traffic through its network.

At the start of 2024, NetIX had surpassed the 2 Tbps threshold. Within five months, its clients increased their traffic by an additional 1 Tbps, placing it 13th among the largest Internet Exchange Platforms (IXPs) globally by traffic. With its new record of 4 Tbps, NetIX now ranks within the prestigious top 10 global IXPs.

NetIX continues solidifying its position as a key player by consistently expanding its network and welcoming new members. To date, the company’s network connects over 220 data centers across more than 100 cities, aggregating and combining traffic from over 50 other Internet exchange platforms through its Global Internet Exchange (GIX) service.

“We are proud to announce this record-breaking achievement of 4 Tbps traffic on our platform,” said Deian Belev, Senior Product Manager of Connectivity and NetIX at Neterra. “This milestone reflects the trust and collaboration of our members and our unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality connectivity and value to our customers.”

The rapid growth of NetIX demonstrates the increasing global demand for efficient, innovative, and scalable connectivity solutions. For years, Neterra’s platform has provided its members with faster connections, improved performance, reduced latency, and significant cost optimization for global connectivity.

Press Release

Rural broadband provider Quickline has taken a significant step in its commitment to nurturing regional talent by welcoming its first cohort of telecoms apprentices. 

The group of eight, aged from 18 through to mid-40s, joined the business in October and have already completed the initial phase of their training. Coming from diverse backgrounds, the recruits bring a wide range of experiences to their new roles. 

After an intensive induction and training programme, the apprentices are now gaining hands-on experience, shadowing qualified engineers in the field as they install full fibre broadband to rural homes and businesses across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. 

This milestone marks Quickline’s first foray into apprenticeships and reflects the company’s dedication to delivering social value as part of its four government-awarded Project Gigabit contracts. These contracts will see Quickline bringing gigabit-capable broadband to hard-to-reach communities, bridging the digital divide in rural areas. 

Wendy Hiley, HR and Talent Acquisition Business Partner at Quickline, said:
“Welcoming our first telecoms apprentices is an exciting moment for Quickline. As we continue to grow rapidly and expand our network, these new recruits are joining us at a pivotal time. 

“By offering structured apprenticeships, we’re not only investing in the future talent of our industry but also reinforcing our commitment to the communities we serve. Apprenticeships provide a fantastic opportunity for individuals to develop valuable skills while contributing to Quickline’s ambitious plans.” 

The eight apprentices began their journey with a two-day induction, learning about Quickline’s mission and operations, followed by a three-week practical training programme. This included mastering key skills such as cabling, pole climbing, and splicing. 

Among the new recruits is 44-year-old Chris Bedford from Barnsley, who transitioned from a career in cyber security to pursue a fresh challenge. “I’m completely new to the industry and really enjoying the opportunity to learn new skills and take on something different,” he said. 

Sheffield-based Mohammed Ameen, 28, previously worked in quality control and completed a BTEC Level 3 in IT and Telecommunications before joining Quickline. “The training course gave a fantastic overview of the skills we need in the role. I’m excited to put that knowledge into practice and help install broadband for customers,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Mathew Beal (18) from Withernwick in East Yorkshire, was inspired to follow in his father’s footsteps in the telecoms industry. “It’s been a great experience so far, and I’d like to progress within Quickline. I’m particularly interested in learning how to tackle network faults and problem-solving,” he shared. 

Quickline’s investment in apprenticeships extends beyond engineering. Opportunities have also been created in areas including IT support, finance, and HR. 

“Our apprentices are already showing great enthusiasm and determination,” added Wendy. “We’re confident they will play a key role in helping us deliver broadband to rural communities and enjoy successful careers within our organisation.” 

This first cohort represents the beginning of Quickline’s journey to develop a skilled workforce while driving positive change for rural communities across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. 

Rural focused UK ISP Quickline, which is deploying gigabit-capable broadband networks (FTTP and wireless) across remote parts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in England, has today announced that they’ve welcomed their first cohort of eight in-house trained telecoms apprentices to help build the new network.

In case anybody has forgotten. Quickline previously won four Project Gigabit contracts from the Government to help expand their network (here, here and here), which will bring full fibre broadband to almost 170,000 additional premises in some of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire’s hardest to reach rural areas (this rises to 360,000 when you include the provider’s complementary commercial build).

The aforementioned contracts also included a social value commitment, which is partly reflected by today’s move to foster more local talent from the regions in which they’re building. The first group of eight apprentices, aged from 18 through to mid-40s, formally joined the business in October – coming from a diverse range of backgrounds – and have already completed the initial phase of their training.

The apprentices are now gaining hands-on experience, shadowing qualified engineers in the field. But Quickline aren’t only investing to train up new engineers as apprentices, as their efforts also extend to other areas including IT support, finance, and HR.

Wendy Hiley, Quickline’s HR and Talent Acquisition Business Partner, said:

“Welcoming our first telecoms apprentices is an exciting moment for Quickline. As we continue to grow rapidly and expand our network, these new recruits are joining us at a pivotal time.

By offering structured apprenticeships, we’re not only investing in the future talent of our industry but also reinforcing our commitment to the communities we serve. Apprenticeships provide a fantastic opportunity for individuals to develop valuable skills while contributing to Quickline’s ambitious plans.”

Project Gigabit aims to help extend 1Gbps (download) capable networks to reach “nationwide” coverage (c. 99%) by 2030 (currently over 85%). Commercial investment has already delivered more than 80% of this, which leaves the government’s scheme to focus on tackling the final 10-20% (mostly rural and some suburban areas), where the private sector alone often fails. The project is technology neutral, but Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) is strongly favoured.

Satellite operator AST SpaceMobile has today signed a “definitive” long-term commercial agreement that will allow Vodafone to harness their new network of cellular broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) until 2034. This is essentially a space-based 2G, 4G and 5G mobile broadband service that can connect with regular handsets around the world.

Over the past few years’ we’ve already seen AST conduct several trials of the new platform, including via their prototype 1.5-ton BlueWalker 3 satellite (here), which orbits at an altitude of a little over 500km and features a huge 693-square-foot (64.4-square-meter) phased array antenna (here). The satellite was specifically designed for sending and receiving mobile signals between the space-based platform and regular mobile handsets on the ground.

The platform was originally developed with support from Vodafone and thus nobody will be surprised to learn that the pair have today signed a long-term commercial agreement until at least 2034. This will support AST’s efforts toward launching a total of 100 similar satellites (BlueBirds) over the next few years (future models will be even larger and more capable).

The eventual aim is to make this service attractive for regular consumers (we suspect this may form part of a ‘global roaming’ style add-on for mobile plans, at extra cost). Today’s agreement thus establishes the framework for Vodafone to offer space-based cellular broadband connectivity in its home markets (e.g. the UK), as well as to other operators via its Partner Markets program.

AST SpaceMobile Statement

Vodafone has placed an order for its first Block 1 BlueBird gateway, marking a milestone in the deployment of AST SpaceMobile’s global network infrastructure. Users outside traditional cellular coverage will be able to connect their everyday smartphones directly to AST SpaceMobile’s satellites in low Earth orbit, which in turn will route the data to the gateway. These gateways will then connect to Vodafone’s existing network infrastructure to route the broadband data to users’ devices, as well as to access third-party Apps and the Internet.

The next-generation Block 2 BlueBirds featuring up to 2,400 square foot communications arrays, are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird satellites in orbit today, enabling peak data transmission speeds up to 120Mbps, supporting voice, full data, and video applications.

Admittedly, AST are only planning to deploy a significantly smaller number of satellites than their closest rival at Starlink (SpaceX), which has already launched thousands of Direct to Cell (DtC) capable spacecraft into orbit (here). But this is partly mitigated by the advantage of having such a huge phased array antenna, which can deliver significantly wider coverage, even if astronomers might not be too happy with how bright they all are (i.e. causing interference with scientific observations).

At the same time AST will also face similar challenges to Starlink, such as in terms of the need to deploy enough ground stations and to secure the necessary regulatory approvals, as well as the support of more mobile operators, for related radio spectrum across multiple countries. But the introduction of additional competition should hopefully help to ensure fairer pricing for consumers, governments and businesses.

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, is already in the process of developing a new authorisation regime to support the new services from AST and Starlink, which should be ready during “early 2025“ (here). We should point out that other satellite operators, such as OneWeb (Eutelsat), Amazon (Project Kuiper) and a few others have also been exploring the possibility of providing cellular services for regular smartphones.

Broadband network operator and UK ISP Lightning Fibre, which has been building a new “full fibre” (FTTP) network across parts of Sussex and Kent in England, has today revealed that their deployment in the Old Town area of Eastbourne has covered 6,574 (87%) premises and seen 2,021 of those take their service (31% of connectable premises or 27% of the total area).

Just to put this in some context, the Old Town area of Eastbourne first started to go live on their new network in August 2021 and was completed in January 2023 (organic growth of take-up often takes a couple of years to reach a reasonable level). But admittedly this is only a small snapshot of the operator’s efforts and it may or may not be indicative of all their other builds.

The alternative network, which has built to a number of locations like Eastbourne, Brighton and Hove, Worthing, Lancing, Hastings and St Leonards, Heathfield, Hellingly and Broad Oak, Hailsham and Polegate, originally planned to cover 140,000 premises with their gigabit-capable network. But it remains unclear how many premises they’ve reached, and they’ve since had to slow their network build due to various challenges (here and here).

Customers of the service tend to pay from just £22 per month (normally £26) on a 24-month term for symmetric speeds of 150Mbps (inc. free setup and router), which rises to £49 (normally £99) for their top 2.5Gbps speed package. The first month of service is currently free.