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Alternative network and UK ISP Country Connect, which since 2021 has been deploying their new gigabit capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across harder to reach parts of South Wales (here) and some communities in England, recently passed the key milestone of having covered 10,000 premises RFS (up from 3,709 two years ago).
The provider, which has previously described itself as being an unashamedly “micro-entity altnet”, originally started its network build in the village of Ponthir and town of Caerleon. Shortly after that they began expanding into Usk, Tidenham + Stroat (border villages in Gloucestershire), Penywaun, Llancayo (site of their HQ) and Aberdare.
As it stands today, Country Connect’s network is also being expanded into the Welsh Valleys of Penywaun, Hiruwaun, Trenant, plus the village of Bordon in Hampshire (England). The operator is clearly doing something right because they’ve even managed to deliver a good level of penetration at 34% (customer take-up).
Some of this work has also overbuilt Voneus’ rival network (largely because Voneus were unable to offer a viable wholesale option), although they usually try to avoid overbuilding fellow altnets. Overall, for a smaller altnet, they appear to be doing quite well for themselves.
Customers of the service tend to pay from £30 per month for a 300Mbps (symmetric) fixed price package with both free installation and a free Wi-Fi 6 router, which rises to £40 for their top 900Mbps service. The ISP also offers a “social tariff” for those on benefits, which gives you symmetric speeds of 50Mbps on a 6-month term for just £15 per month.