The news follows the company’s successful rollout of fibre connectivity to approximately 200,000 properties across Hull and East Yorkshire in 2019. KCOM says that it will increase this to tens of thousands more homes and businesses.
“I’m delighted to announce the first phase of our new, ambitious plans to bring our award-winning broadband to many more homes and businesses in East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire,” said Dale Raneberg, chief executive at KCOM. “By investing to develop and expand our networks we hope to deliver benefits to residents through infrastructure that will also underpin growth and innovation across the region. Our full fibre infrastructure is contributing to the creation of a regional powerhouse. This new programme will more than double our investment in fibre-to-the-premises.”
These expansion plans form part of a wider investment programme to increase regional fibre access by KCOM owner MEIF 6 Fibre Limited, a subsidiary of Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 6 SCSp. The £627 million acquisition of KCOM by Macquarie was approved in the summer of 2019.
“We want every corner of the country to benefit from world-class, gigabit-speed broadband, so I welcome this big investment from KCOM to give more businesses in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire the opportunity to take advantage of the fastest internet connections,” added Nicky Morgan, the UK’s Digital Secretary. "This Government has committed £5 billion to make sure the hardest-to-reach areas aren’t left behind and, together with industry investment, it means real progress is being made to build a connected, 21st century Britain."
In addition, this expanded investment strategy from KCOM supports the Government’s plan to make gigabit-enabled connectivity available across the country as currently only 11% of UK properties have access to full fibre broadband.
“KCOM’s investment in making Hull the UK’s first full fibre city is already delivering benefits to the economy there. I welcome the news of its plans to invest further to make this vital infrastructure available to many more thousands of homes and businesses in the region,” continued Raneberg. “The £100m investment we’re announcing today is a huge vote of confidence in our regional business from our new owners, who recognise the great potential this region has to grow and prosper with quality ultrafast broadband.”
