Toob joins the UK alt-net revolution

Portsmouth start-up Toob is the latest to cash in on the consumers fibre appetite with £75 million of initial funding, backed by Amber Infrastructure.

Focusing on Portsmouth, the firm will aim to build a network to support 100,000 fibre connections by 2021, with the first to be hooked up by the end of 2019. The start-up was founded by former Vodafone executives Nick Parbutt, who will act as CEO, and Mike Banwell, CFO, while experienced executive Charles McGregor will act as Chairman.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Amber Infrastructure and to have secured Charles as Chairman. toob now has the right people, the right plan and the right funding in place to capitalise on the exciting opportunity ahead of us,” said Parbutt. “We want to enable families, businesses and communities to live, work and play in ways which are only made possible with the advent of gigabit broadband.”

“The amount of internet data used by people in the UK is growing by around half every year,” said Jonathan Oxley, Ofcom’s Competition Group Director. “So, we’ll increasingly need full-fibre broadband services like this to provide faster, more reliable connections and capacity to our homes and offices. These plans are another example of full-fibre being used to build broadband that can support the UK’s digital future.”

The alt-net revolution is starting to roar, and the signs are looking much more positive for fibre-enthusiasts across the UK. Although the UK is currently one of the least equipped to handle the blossoming digital economy, despite what politicians say to you, the industry is starting to get itself into shape. The alt-nets can claim some of the plaudits for this progress.

Although CityFibre developed a reputation for being a bit of a victim in years gone, the proposition was ahead of its time. Few other operators in the UK considered fibre as a priority, though CityFibre focused on developing fibre spines in large towns and cities across the country and is now reaping the benefits. The success has spurred confidence in other alt-nets such as Hyperoptic and Gigaclear, though more are emerging every year.

The issue some of these businesses might face in the future is scale. Fibre is an expensive segment to operate in, and the demanding nature of the UK consumer is forcing the price of connectivity down each year. CityFibre is in a strong position, the tie up with Vodafone is important as are other enterprise relationships, while Hyperoptic and Gigaclear also have established businesses now. Those who are late to the party, might have trouble achieving scale when the price and civil engineering complications are considered.

While the alt-nets are critical in accelerating the pace of change and rollout of fibre across the UK, there might need to be some consolidation should more small providers emerge in the future. This of course will not matter to the UK Government however, which has been searching for ways to entice the industry onto a fibre diet.

Back in 2015, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne floated the idea of a new fund for alt-net providers, perhaps realising there was a need to force change through competition and the threat of loss. What should be worth noting is Openreach’s decision last week to launch an industry consultation on the switch to full-fibre, the first step in retiring the legacy copper network.

The alt-nets have been a contributing factor to the changing of the status quo, demonstrating there is a consumer appetite for fibre connectivity, but also highlighting the poor position of Openreach.

There are of course those who would suggest fibre connectivity is not necessary, though a decade ago who would have said we would have been craving the speeds of today. The issue is not whether we need the speeds fibre promises, but readying business and people for the usecases of tomorrow. Who knows what wonderful ideas will emerge, but when the creatives and innovators get their hands-on fibre connectivity speeds, but they will design products and services for these speeds. Fibre connectivity today is more about readiness.

For those who are desperately preaching the case for fibre connectivity, the alt-nets seem to be a perfectly suitable catalyst for change. The UK is still miles behind the rest of Europe, data from IDate suggest fibre penetration in the UK is only 1.3% compared to 44% in Spain, but there does seem to be progress being made.