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Image credits: Freedom Fibre

Freedom Fibre, a Manchester-based fibre network provider, announced that it has secured a £100M (approximately €117M) commitment of scale-up funding. The funding includes £84M (approximately €98.6M) investment from infrastructure investor Equitix and £16M (approximately €18.7M) from Santander in debt facility. 

Freedom Fibre says it will use the funds to accelerate the roll-out of FTTP (Fibre-to-the-Premises) broadband ISP network across semi-rural parts of North England.

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Neil McArthur, Freedom Fibre CEO, says, “Freedom Fibre firmly believes Full Fibre should be a right, accessible to all, and not a privilege. This new funding is enabling us to support our long-term ambition to take fibre off the beaten track to semi-urban areas, providing fast, reliable connectivity with the best possible customer experience. We are excited to be driving forward our strategy to create an affordable, optical fibre network which will last for generations.”

Freedom Fibre: What you need to know

Founded by Neil McArthur, Freedom Fibre currently offers high-speed broadband services to 20,000 homes across parts of Cheshire and Greater Manchester. The company claims its services come with minimal disruption to residents through its extensive use of BT ducts and poles.

Currently, the company serves villages and towns like Glazebury, Irlam, Leigh, Burtonwood, Croft, Newton-le-Willows, Stockton Heath, Weaverham, Whitchurch, Winwick, Acton Bridge, and Culcheth, Earlestown. 

By the end of 2022, the UK company expects to reach 70,000 premises and boost customer penetration through its wholesale agreement with TalkTalk to use its fibre optic connections. 

According to the company, the deal enables TalkTalk to provide high-speed broadband services to consumers in semi-urban areas in North West England through Freedom Fibre’s network infrastructure

TalkTalk is a London-based phone and broadband company that offers fixed and mobile telephony and broadband services. It holds a significant chunk of shares, between 25 per cent and under 50 per cent, reveals a report.

Ultimately, the company seeks to reach more than 2M premises in its chosen locations. The company plans to add another broadband service provider in the upcoming months as it scales. 

Investor

Based out of London, Equitix is a global investor, developer, and long-term fund manager of core infrastructure assets. Besides Freedom Fibre, the company has made a £75M equity investment into another UK internet service provider, Grain Connect.

Hugh Crossley, Chief Executive Officer for Equitix, says “We are looking forward to investing in and developing Freedom Fibre’s network roll-out. We believe Freedom Fibre is a strong business, operating in an essential infrastructure sector that has a critical role in providing connectivity for both the people and the economy of the North West.” 

He adds, “This sizeable investment further enhances Equitix’s network infrastructure that distributes essential utilities to over 6.3M customers across the UK and Europe. Freedom Fibre’s network roll-out will continue our strategic aims to provide local communities with affordable, high-quality essential infrastructure.”