FibreNest announces launch of UK wholesale service

FibreNest has announced the launch of a new wholesale division, FibreNest Wholesale, that will allow rival internet service providers to utilise their gigabit-speed network to offer services directly to consumers.

The network provider currently has 20,000 homes within its network - up from 14,000 at the start of the year.

The firm came under fire from the government and several ISPs in recent months for the alleged monopolisation of internet services in certain areas.

FibreNest’s parent company, property developer Persimmon, had been deploying their full fibre network across new build sites whilst preventing rival ISPs in the area from offering competing services.

However, Persimmon argues that residents in their new build houses receive better broadband speeds than many other areas which can be accessed immediately as soon as they move in (as opposed to waiting several days for a new service to go live).

Persimmon established FibreNest in 2018 due to several complaints from homeowners that internet service providers, such as Openreach, were taking too long to activate their broadband services after moving in.

Group Technology Director for Persimmon Homes, Liam Ronan, said: “FibreNest has been hugely successful in addressing the legacy service provider issues and we are delighted that we are able to support our customers with continued connectivity on move-in day. We have always been determined that our customers should have a choice of broadband provider but, as with any a start-up broadband business, we have lacked sufficient scale to appeal to Retail Service Providers to date.

“However, that is now changing. We continue to grow rapidly and with a buoyant new homes market expected to support a robust growth trajectory for the business, and plans to offer our services to customers outside of the Persimmon network who are still suffering from poor speeds associated with legacy network provision, we expect FibreNest to accelerate its expansion significantly over the next few years.

“We are fast approaching critical mass, making a wholesale offer attractive to Retail Service Providers, and we are now taking steps to expand choice for our customers at the earliest opportunity. We look forward to engaging with the industry over the coming months as we build our wholesale business.”

Harry Pererra

Harry turns on his experience in journalism and programming to write about the latest news in the world of tech and the environemtn. When he isn’t writing for usave he is working towards his Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and prefers dogs to cats.

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