Network operator FullFibre Limited (Fibre Heroes), which has already extended their open access Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGSPON) broadband network to cover 380,000 UK premises (up from 339k in May 2024), have today made a faster 2.3Gbps (symmetric speed) tier available to their partner ISPs for consumers and businesses to take.
The underlying full fibre network typically covers 170 towns across parts of Derbyshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire in England.
The operator’s growing network is also supported by a number of retail ISPs, such as BeFibre, Link Broadband, iDNET, Squirrel Internet, Octaplus, Fusion Fibre, TalkTalk, Direct Save Telecom Home Telecom and more. But until now the fastest packages that those providers could sell went up to a maximum speed of 1Gbps (1000Mbps).
However, over the past few months we’ve seen a number of network operators launch 2Gbps or faster tiers, which have today been joined by a new 2.3Gbps tier from FullFibre. This is now available to the “majority of FullFibre’s existing 380,000+ premises” footprint, with plans to enhance additional GPON areas “soon“.
Matt Baker, Head of Wholesale at FullFibre, told ISPreview:
“With FullFibre largely building in areas traditionally served by older infrastructure, the introduction of our 2.3Gb symmetric service offers an exciting new option for both businesses and consumers. This new level of performance is designed to meet the growing demands for high-speed, reliable broadband connectivity, enabling businesses to run critical services more effectively and efficiently.”
At the time of writing there don’t appear to be any live retail packages available at this speed on their network, although that will no doubt change. Looking ahead, the network operator said they’re “on track” to reach 400,000 premises Ready For Service (RFS) in the “second half of this year“.
In addition, today’s announcement also reveals that Cumbria-based wholesale (aggregator) connectivity provider IP River have also joined their network.