Swish Fibre unveils broadband rollout plan following acquisition
New UK full fibre internet service provider (ISP) Swish Fibre has announced the first 11 locations for its eventual £250 million 10 Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises network, all of which are in Buckinghamshire.
Swish aims for its FTTP network to eventually cover 250,000 UK premises, with the initial 11 locations focusing on the area around the M4 corridor and Chiltern line, and hopes to break ground on the project in the first quarter of next year.
The 11 locations are: Marlow; Gerrards Cross; Beaconsfield; Flackwell Heath; Wooburn Green and Bourne End; Hazlemere; Great Missenden; Thame; Chinnor; Princes Risborough; and Haddenham.
Swish Fibre aims to utilise Openreach’s (BT) existing infrastructure of cable ducts and poles where suitable to connect home county areas within commutable distance of London to full-fibre broadband, having previously stated it was looking to provide for “underserved towns and villages where broadband availability is poor and there is strong demand for ultrafast broadband services.”
The announcement comes just days after Swish Trading confirmed a takeover deal by investment firm Fern Trading. Fern pledges £250 million of investment to support Swish Fibre’s broadband rollout plan. Fern Trading was advised by Octopus Investments on the acquisition.
Swish Fibre CEO Brice Yharrassarry said: "We are delighted that Fern, advised by Octopus, has agreed to acquire Swish Fibre and to support our agreed roll-out plans to bring fibre optic broadband to hundreds of thousands of new customers across the Home Counties."
Regarding the broadband rollout, Yharrassarry said: “Following the overwhelmingly positive response to our acquisition by Fern we have been asked by several sources where Swish are going to build their first fibre networks. We are currently working on a project to cover over 250,000 properties and the 50,000 announced today represent the first tranche.
"Discussions with the County Council and construction partners are well advanced and we plan to break ground as soon as we can in 2020.”
