Oxford-based UK ISP Zzoomm, which aspires to cover 1 million UK homes with a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network by the end of 2024 (here), has confirmed that some 6,800 premises in the town of Henley-on-Thames (Oxfordshire) will be the first to benefit from their rollout. The provider has previously stated that their deployment would be targeted toward smaller cities (e.g. Hastings, Amersham, Weymouth and Huntingdon) and the suburbs of larger cities (e.g. London and Birmingham). Such areas tend not to figure into the initial “full fibre” plans of bigger rivals and that may help Zzoomm to build a first-mover advantage. Apparently their rollout is still set to begin at the end of summer and they aim to complete the work in Henley-on-Thames during the second half (H2) of 2020. Interestingly the operator said it would be recruiting its own regional and field teams locally rather than subcontracting out the build and maintenance of the network, which is a costly and complicated thing for a start-up to do. As part of this effort the ISP also intends to open a regional office in the centre of Henley within the very near future. Matthew Hare, Zzoomm’s CEO, said: “We’re delighted to be launching our network in Henley, a vibrant town with a strong community. Zzoomm’s new full fibre network brings a new competitive offering for both homes and businesses, delivering more choice, more speed and more opportunity. Our full fibre will offer from 100Mbps to 10Gbps, so you can pick the speed that suits you, leaving behind the limitations of the old copper network. Henley’s home to lots of creative and entrepreneurial businesses and businesspeople. Full fibre means more opportunities for those businesses to harness new technology, cloud computing and home working. And we are making Henley our home too. We want to give our customers the best possible experience and to build a partnership with the local community in Henley. So we will be opening an office and recruiting teams locally. Full fibre for Henley from Zzoomm means more jobs in Henley.” As previously reported, Zzoomm has based their network off ADTRAN‘s latest XGS-PON technology and they’ve also signed a £2.5m supply deal with fibre optic firm Hexatronic UK. We look forward to seeing the first packages and prices emerge in the near future, which seem likely to be quite aggressively positioned in order to attract take-up away from rivals.
Zzoomm has confirmed Oxfordshire-on-Thames as the first location to benefit from the rollout of its FTTP network. Deployment in the Henley town is due to begin late summer and work is expected to be completed in H2 2020. The company, which plans to open a region office in the town, intends to focus on smaller cities and the suburbs of larger cities which are often excluded from the initial full-fibre plans of its bigger rivals.