The UK’s independent broadband providers, known as altnets, are at risk of creating a major issue with thousands of kilometers of underutilized fiber-optic cabling. This is due to new entrants rushing to deploy infrastructure without considering the long-term sustainability of their business models.
An estimated 100,000km of taxpayer-funded full-fibre cables are being laid in the UK, with government subsidies made available through the flagship £5bn Project Gigabit broadband roll-out programme. This program aims to cover 85% of UK premises by the end of 2025 and achieve nationwide coverage by 2030. However, many altnets are failing to make the most of these important assets, and some are not making their cables easily available to other operators despite open networking being a condition of receiving taxpayers’ money.
This lack of access and overbuilding could be holding back plans to “level up” rural and remote communities across the UK. AssetHub, an asset reuse specialist, has urged network builders that have received funding through BDUK to make sure they know where their fiber is deployed and to make this infrastructure open for use by other companies. This would not only ensure compliance with BDUK but also allow real competition for consumers, reduce overbuild in the industry, and generate much-needed revenues from the fiber cables.
The UK altnet industry is at risk of more unnecessary overbuild as new entrants rush to deploy new infrastructure without considering the long-term sustainability of their business models. AssetHub’s BDUK Project Gigabit-compliant trading platform for purchasing and selling infrastructure and services helps network builders map their fiber networks for visibility. It also makes sure approved ISPs and other network builders are aware and able to gain access to the network, securely, offering those that have not received funding an alternative to building more fiber.
