Truespeed invests £22m into South-West full-fibre roll-out

Truespeed has announced a £22m investment across multiple South-West locations, including South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath, as it continues to accelerate the roll-out of its gigabit full-fibre broadband throughout the region. 

Founded in 2014, the Bath-based altnet has a stated mission to bring full-fibre broadband to hard-to-reach homes and businesses in its surrounding region in South West England.

By building a brand-new infrastructure, the firm said it has been able to deliver 10 Gbit-capable full-fibre broadband directly into premises, providing what it describes as high-performance, future-proofed connectivity. In 2017, Truespeed secured a £75m investment from Aviva Investors, followed by a £100m second tranche of funding from the same source in January 2022.

Truespeed also aims to ensure entire communities benefit from its service by connecting schools and community hubs passed by its network to free broadband for life. To date, the firm has provided more than 140 free connections as part of its work to improve connectivity across the South West.

In a move that it said represents a significant benefit to the region’s residents and businesses, Truespeed has added 12 new areas to its full-fibre roll-out plan. For the first time, the company is expanding its network to South Gloucestershire areas, where it has added Thornbury, Almondsbury, Bradley Stoke, Patchway, Stoke Gifford and Chipping Sodbury to its remit.

In Bath, Truespeed is expanding its footprint in Bathwick, Widcombe and Combe Down. Alongside this, the company is also adding the North Somerset areas of Uphill, Banwell and Sandford, which are located to the South and East of Weston Super Mare, to its full-fibre network.

Claiming to improve connectivity throughout the South West, Truespeed’s latest investment is designed to bring assured speed, ultrafast and “ultra-reliable” broadband to a further 43,000 properties across the region. The firm guarantees symmetrical upload and download speeds of up to 900Mbps for residential customers, and 10Gbps for business users. It has also frozen prices until May 2023, and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Planning and building works are already underway, and the provider also states that its build model ensures that customers can be connected to its service as building progresses throughout 2023. In line with its network expansion, Truespeed has scaled up its deployment operations, and now employs more than 200 people directly in the local area, alongside creating additional work for its contractor partners.

“Access to reliable, ultrafast broadband plays an essential role in everyday life, and we’re pleased to be rolling out our ultrafast full-fibre network to more homes and businesses than ever before,” said Truespeed CEO James Lowther.

“By investing in multiple communities across the South West, including Thornbury, Stoke Gifford, Chipping Sodbury and Banwell to name just a few, we’re providing an enormous upgrade to a vital modern-day utility. Truespeed is working tirelessly to improve connectivity throughout the region and we’re excited to continue the rapid expansion of our ultrafast network.”