Connexin extends gigabit proposition with Wisper Broadband acquisition

Hull-based internet of things (IoT) and digital infrastructure specialist Connexin has acquired local wireless fixed wireless access (FWA) internet service provider Wisper Broadband, aiming to strengthen its position as a leading provider of fibre-based broadband series in the north of England, specialising in building and operating smart city infrastructure to support the IoT.

Connexin said that by acquiring Wisper Broadband, it will welcome thousands of new customers to its network, and the move is in step with its plans for significant regional growth to challenge the lack of broadband choice in the Hull area. Through the acquisition, Connexin aims to give the people and businesses of East Yorkshire better value, greater choice and higher-quality broadband. Wisper customers will see no immediate changes to their current service, billing or support.

The broadband provider first announced that it would create a new full-fibre network for the locality in September 2021, maintaining the traditional fierce local independence of the Kingston Upon Hull area to offer local telephony services to rival that of UK incumbent supplier BT.  Indeed, with its launch, Connexin said it is threatening to disrupt what it calls the existing monopoly in selecting a fibre broadband provider by offering residents and businesses freedom of choice.

The company claimed that Hull’s fibre broadband market is currently monopolised by one company, leaving residents and businesses unable to access other providers, and is the only UK city where this is the case. It believes that introducing the new fibre network will allow a competitive market to emerge, providing not only diversity, but improving the citizen and business broadband experience. Connexin said its network will be the first in the UK to be built over an existing full-fibre network as, unlike others, the current infrastructure is not shared.

Hull became the first UK city to benefit from its own purpose-built Smart City Operating System through Connexin, which also gave Sheffield a smart technology overhaul with the ConnexinOS platform to integrate, view, manage and respond to information to improve highway maintenance services and revolutionise service delivery across the city and surrounding areas.

In January 2022, the company went live with a 10Gbps, full-fibre network, which was said to be the first and fastest of its kind in the area and added to its initial 2Gbps offer, which meant it had the fastest home broadband speeds in the city.

Wisper Broadband managing director Michael Foley said: “Wisper Broadband and Connexin have worked very closely together over the last 10 years and always had a similar objective – to give the city an increased choice in broadband providers. As technology has progressed, we have seen a significant increase in the requirement for full fibre and a fairer marketplace within Hull.

“As such, we are extremely excited to join forces with Connexin at such a key time in its fibre roll-out and are confident that, over the coming months, Connexin will bring the next generation of full fibre to the people of Hull.”

Connexin co-founder and CEO Furqan Alamgir added: “As a local company, we are passionate about providing the best online experience to the people of Hull and the surrounding area. Through the acquisition and the roll-out of our own full-fibre network, it brings us another step closer to doing just that and creating the fairer, more diverse and best-in-class broadband offering that the region has long deserved.”