Skip to content
Gigaclear Expand Essex UK Full Fibre Build to 3 New Rural Areas
Abingdon-based rural broadband ISP Gigaclear appears to be expanding their new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to cover another three rural locations in Essex (England) – reflecting an additional 3,800 premises, which forms part of the operator’s £140m investment in the county.
The three locations are Tollesbury, Kelvedon and Feering. At present, we already know that Openreach, Hyperoptic and OFNL have some limited coverage of gigabit-capable broadband networks between the neighbouring Kelvedon and Feering, but the large villages have yet to be fully covered (locals often complain about being overlooked by other full fibre builds).
NOTE: The Infracapital-backed operator is investing up to £700m to reach 500,000 Ready for Service (RFS) UK premises across 23 counties by the end of 2024, or the end of 2023 if you include built but not yet RFS premises (they’ve already covered 380,000).
The good news is that Gigaclear have now begun a wider rollout across the three locations to reach 3,800 local homes and businesses. The first premises in Tollesbury and Kelvedon should start to be connected from this Autumn 2023, with the network build then being targeted for completion by Spring 2024.
At this point it’s worth highlighting how the new core fibre route for Tollesbury seems to stretch from Totham Hill, through Tiptree, and then down through Tolleshunt D’Arcy (Gigaclear’s coverage is currently very limited in this area). Suffice to say that we wouldn’t be surprised if other nearby communities saw greater expansion from the ISP in the future.
Tony Smith, Gigaclear’s Delivery Director, said (InYourArea):
“The continued expansion of our network in Essex to communities such as Tollesbury, Kelvedon and Feering demonstrates Gigaclear’s commitment to delivering fast and reliable broadband to rural communities in the county that would otherwise struggle to access ultrafast speeds.
Unlike many other broadband providers who compete to offer their services in dense, urban areas, we’re focusing on harder-to-reach communities that are far less likely to have a choice of supplier.”
Residential customers of the service typically pay from £17 a month (£40 after 18-months) for a symmetric 200Mbps broadband package on an 18-month term, and this rises to £49 (£79 after 18-months) for their top 830Mbps plan. All packages include a wireless router and free installation. But they’re currently also running a special offer that gives 500Mbps for £20 per month.
