Just in time for the mass increase in remote working caused by the second Covid-19 lockdown, London altnet Community Fibre is claiming a new speed standard for broadband by launching what it says is the UK capital’s first 3 Gigabit home broadband service.
Community Fibre’s stated mission is to empower communities by offering more reliable and affordable connections, and to make London a Gigafast city – a key UK government target. The company operates its own dedicated 100% full-fibre network, saying that running fibre optic cable all the way into homes and business premises helps deliver maximum speed, reliability and efficiency, with zero use of legacy copper.
In September 2020, Community Fibre saw its controlling equity acquired by private equity firm Warburg Pincus and specialist technology investment management group DTCP, alongside existing investors Amber Infrastructure and RPMI Railpen.
The company recently embarked on a programme with some of London’s largest landlords on connecting homes and says the new speed increase will future-proof these homes for years to come. Quoting data from UK communications regulator Ofcom, Community Fibre says the current UK average download and upload speeds are 64Mbps and 14Mbps, respectively, which it says makes its 3 Gigafast package, offering residential customers download and upload speeds of 3Gbps, theoretically 46 times faster than the UK download average and 214 times faster than the UK upload average.
The 3 Gigafast broadband package allows a multi-gigabit-enabled device to reach 3Gbps, as well as enabling multiple devices to reach 1Gbps speeds at the same time. The multi-gigabit speed is delivered using a Wi-Fi 6 Zyxel router, which optimises bandwidth utilisation to increase network capacity and the number of simultaneous connections, allowing more devices to enjoy superior connectivity with extremely low latency, said Community Fibre.
The result, it added, is that when a household wants to conduct video conferencing, downloading and upload heavy files, live-stream their favourite video games and TV shows, the new package can handle all this simultaneously to deliver the best connectivity experience, and future-proof their home for the technology of tomorrow, such as virtual reality applications.
The company also noted that the current climate has created an environment where having a fast and stable home network connection is vital. As people increasingly work, entertain and socialise from home, households must be equipped with network capacity that can support multiple devices, it said.
Community Fibre CEO Graeme Oxby said the company aimed to address current needs and go “well beyond” in the future. “We believe that multi-gigabit speed will be an essential need for homes and businesses, proving vital to the UK’s global competitiveness,” he said.
“By using 100% full fibre instead of outdated copper or hybrid cables, Community Fibre becomes the first to make multi-gigabit speed a reality in London, ensuring the capital’s communities are ready to cope with the increased broadband demands for years to come. We are also committed to provide the 3Gbps access for free to multiple community centres across London.”
Effectively immediately, the 3 Gigafast package is available in 12 London boroughs – Barnet, Brent, City of London, Croydon, Lewisham, Newham, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, and Westminster.
