Community Fibre claims progress in London gigabit roll-out

After offering an entertainment service based on full-fibre broadband and claiming to have set gigabit benchmarks, London-based broadband provider Community Fibre has announced that it has enabled connectivity for 200,000 London homes, a figure that has doubled in just a year.

The company said this represented an annual increase of 130% in its customer base and added that the milestone reinforced its commitment to facilitate a better internet for all London communities, aiming to connect one million London properties by the end of 2023 with what it claims is affordable, faster, more reliable broadband.

Community Fibre also provides free gigabit broadband connection to 123 community centres across London and in January 2021 became the first fixed broadband provider to offer one-year free 50Mbps broadband in conjunction with social landlord partners to vulnerable households in all the boroughs it serves, to help with home schooling through the lockdown.

Community Fibre operates a 100% full-fibre broadband network throughout London. The company’s stated mission is that it believes in a more inclusive future where everyone has access to better broadband. Its network offers up to 3Gbps to residential homes and 10Gbps for businesses, and the new offer comes just after it announced it was using its network to provide a fibre-based TV service to customers.

As a result of its growth, Community Fibre says an extra 1,000 jobs in London will have been created over last year and this year to help deliver fast, high-speed broadband to communities in times of need.

Graeme Oxby, CEO of Community Fibre, said: “As a London-based company, we are proud to have reached this new milestone and will keep pursuing our efforts to provide better connectivity to those who need it the most and connect up to a million properties across the city by 2023. These roll-outs will not only cover social housing and large blocks of flats – our primary focus in the past – but will also include individual properties and terraced houses.”

Community Fibre is also working with over 200 landlords in London to bring 100% full-fibre broadband to their properties at no extra cost to the community and is making inroads into connecting one million homes and businesses by 2023.

The publication of the user landmark comes just after the company signed master wayleave agreements with three more London boroughs – Hackney, Barnet and Lambeth – enabling it to roll out its full-fibre broadband network to an extra 85,000 new properties in the coming months. Residents living in those premises will be able to access gigabit-capable internet connectivity once the installation of Community Fibre’s network is completed.

Dan Thomas, leader of Barnet Council, said: “By enabling commercial investment in several new fibre broadband networks, we are ensuring everyone will be able to benefit from high-speed internet connections as fast as possible. Life in the time of Covid-19 has increased our digital dependency for remote working, home schooling and staying in touch with our friends and loved ones. Having reliable and affordable broadband will ensure that Barnet will continue to be a great place to live, work and study.”

Clayeon McKenzie, Hackney Council cabinet member for housing services, added: “The past year has shown how important good internet services are for our residents, and as we rebuild a better Hackney out of the coronavirus pandemic, this innovative partnership with Community Fibre will ensure that those in council homes don’t get left behind by poor connectivity, while securing other benefits to support our most vulnerable residents and tackle digital exclusion.”  

Landlords who want their properties in London upgraded can get in touch with Community Fibre via [email protected].