In another example of a UK broadband provider hitting the accelerator in terms of deployment, independent provider Hyperoptic has revealed that it has reached a customer milestone and is now connecting more than 300,000 customers across the UK to its full-fibre infrastructure.
One of the UK alternative broadband providers (altnets) that have driven the rapid expansion of fibre broadband in the UK, Hyperoptic was founded in 2011 with the express intention to “shake up” the UK broadband market with its full-fibre optic technology.
The company’s network now passes more than 1.4 million homes across 64 towns and cities in the UK. Early deployments, starting with the UK’s first residential gigabit connection in Wandsworth in 2011, were in multi-dwelling units. Since then, continued growth has come from connecting new build developments and residential streets in densely populated areas.
Claiming to be the UK’s largest exclusively full-fibre internet service provider, Hyperoptic has been growing rapidly over the past year or two. In July 2022, it announced it had hit a milestone by connecting more than 100,000 new-build homes to its full-fibre network. Hyperoptic is on a stated mission to reach 500,000 customers and two million homes passed, maintaining what it calls market-leading penetration and excellent customer experience as the company scales.
The company has positioned itself as the connectivity partner of choice for new-build developers, enabling them to meet the obligations outlined in planned changes to Building Regulations 2010, which will require that all new homes have gigabit broadband as standard.
It now has partnerships with more than 250 developers across the UK and is working with 17 of the top 20 housebuilders, inking nationwide partnerships with the likes of Barratt Developments, Avant Homes and Cala, covering the whole of their new-build housing portfolios. It has also agreed a nationwide partnership with Bellway Homes to connect all its future new-build homes across the UK – more than 11,000 homes a year.
The milestone follows Hyperoptic relaunching its brand with a renewed focus on customer experience. The company’s In Your Corner campaign is intended to present an alternative to providers that “offer poor customer service, lack of transparent pricing and unreliable network connectivity”. Hyperoptic’s cited research is said to clearly reveal the poor service that UK broadband users are putting up with.
Almost a quarter (23%) of broadband users said they have never switched, and 30% said they want to but it’s too time consuming or too much hassle, while 22% said they would switch, but they know their current provider would make it hard for them to leave.
“The most important job we have is to connect customers – that’s how we show people across the UK that there’s a better way for broadband to be done said Hyperoptic founder and CEO Dana Tobak. “We know that broadband users deserve better, and we’re committed to a five-star customer experience.”