Two ISPs based in the North West of England have inked an agreement valued at GBP15 million (USD20 million), joining forces to ‘take on the UK’s broadband market and bring ultrafast connectivity to 500,000 businesses and homes’. Announcing the deal in a press release, Greater Manchester-based 4th Utility and Cheshire-based ITS Technology Group signed an eight-year partnership agreement that they said would pave the way for the duo to accelerate the rollout of commercial grade fibre broadband. With 4th Utility investing GBP15 million into the project, the two companies are reportedly aiming to reach 100,000 premises with fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connectivity within the next twelve months, with coverage expected to rise to half a million properties by 2024.
Tony Hughes, 4th Utility’s CEO, said of the matter: ‘This deal brings together two exciting UK broadband providers and by leveraging the ITS network, we will be able to significantly broaden our reach and the pace of our UK-wide rollout.’
4th Utility, which recently received a long-term GBP25 million investment from DIF Capital Partners, works with residential landlords, property developers and house builders to install and upgrade their properties with full fibre connectivity. Meanwhile, ITS designs, builds and operates gigabit capable full fibre digital networks, often re-using existing infrastructure.