UK’s altnets further fibre roll-out

In the face of stiff economic headwinds that were hitting many independent broadband internet players (altnets) in the UK, Netomnia, YouFibre and Brsk announced a merger in the summer of 2024, and the strategic move looks to have reaped the rewards, as the merged company’s full-year results for 2024 have shown the firm solidifying its position as the UK’s second-largest altnet.

The Netomnia Group said that 2024 was a year of “unprecedented growth, innovation and collaboration”, from scaling serviceable premises to connecting thousands of homes and businesses, and that it was redefining connectivity for communities across the UK.

The company ended 2024 with 2.08 million premises serviceable, adding 1.27 million in the year in which it made an acquisition adding 255,000 in the final quarter. It had 238,000 premises connected in the 12-month period, representing 171,000 in a year and 48,000 in Q4 2024.

Such customer growth generated revenue of £38.6m, a year-on-year rise of 321%, with adjusted EBITDA of £29.6m, an annual rise of 13%. Fiscal take-up was 11.5%, up 38% year on year, and net debt was £531m, up 223% compared with the end of 2023.

Netomnia group CEO Jeremy Chelot said the company was building a fibre network designed for “whatever comes next – a place where the most powerful internet lives”.

“Reaching two million premises serviceable marks a defining moment for our group, firmly establishing us as the UK’s second-largest alternative network provider,” he said. “The integration of Netomnia, YouFibre and Brsk is nearing completion, creating the only scaled and capital-efficient retail and wholesale platform in the market. With our proven execution capabilities, we’re confidently progressing toward our next milestone of three million premises serviceable by the end of 2025.”

Meanwhile, the UK’s largest independent full-fibre platform, CityFibre, announced that it has begun work to connect more than 50,000 homes and businesses across hard-to-reach areas of Kent to next-generation, full-fibre broadband as part of the government’s Project Gigabit scheme.

The £5bn Project Gigabit programme was introduced in 2021 with the aim of accelerating the UK’s recovery from Covid-19, boosting high-growth sectors such as tech and the creative industries, and levelling up the country, spreading wealth and creating jobs.

On its launch, the scheme looked to prioritise areas with slow connections that were seen as being left behind in commercial broadband companies’ plans, and give communities in so-called hard-to-reach places access to the fastest internet on the market, helping to grow the economy.

The CityFibre roll-out in Kent – based on XGS-PON technology, capable of supporting speeds of up to 10Gbps – was made possible by a £112m Project Gigabit contract, and marks the last of nine Project Gigabit delivery contracts secured by CityFibre, with the first customers already connected in Cambridge, Norfolk and Suffolk.