East of England rural provider County Broadband has received national recognition for its ongoing rollout of full fibre broadband infrastructure in rural and remote communities with a shortlisting at the prestigious Internet Service Provider’s Association (ISPA UK) Awards 2024.
The independent alternative-network (alt-net) provider has been announced as a finalist in the Best Rural ISP (Internet Service Provider) category at the 26th annual ISPA Awards which celebrates the digital sector’s achievements and innovation.
County Broadband, based in Aldham, Essex, specialises in designing, building and deploying gigabit-speed full fibre infrastructure in rural and hard-to-reach areas which have been typically overlooked for digital connectivity investment by large national providers.
Backed by a combined £146 million of private investment from Aviva Investors, County Broadband is delivering full fibre networks in over 300 villages and market towns across the East of England to help drive local economic growth and provide reliable access to modern online services.
James Salmon, Director of Corporate Development at County Broadband, said: “For a quarter of a century, the ISPA Awards have celebrated innovation and excellence, so to be shortlisted in the Best Rural category at this year’s ceremony is fantastic recognition for County Broadband and reflects everyone’s hard work and ingenuity to overcome some complex challenges facing the sector.
“We remain committed to our vision of ensuring no-one is left behind as the UK scales up at pace to full fibre broadband. Our teams work closely every day with local leaders in rural and remote communities across the East of England to deliver the digital infrastructure they need to access modern online services, whether that’s virtual GP appointments or the ability to work from home.”
Full fibre broadband, also known as Fibre-To-The-Premises (FTTP) broadband, is the installation of fibre optic cables directly into premises. The infrastructure provides speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps (gigabit-capable) which is 11 times faster than the UK average.
Full fibre also provides vastly superior network reliability due to the technology of the fibre optic cables while speeds can be easily upgraded to over 10,000 Mbps to meet future demands.
Currently, copper-based superfast networks are based on old Fibre-To-The-Cabinet (FTTC) Victorian technology in which fibre cables are sent to roadside cabinets and distributed via copper cabling.
Almost 19 million UK premises (62%) now have access to full fibre broadband, known as ‘premises passed’, according to data by industry regulator Ofcom.
Separate research in 2024 by INCA (the Independent Networks Cooperative Association), which represents the alt-net industry, found alt-net providers have built full fibre networks to cover over a third (35%) of all UK premises.
Steve Leighton, ISPA Chair, said: “The ISPA Awards are a celebration of the tireless work and effort we have seen from the sector. Through their continuous efforts, these outstanding organisations have not only strived to, but also succeeded in, consistently improving their quality of services.”
The ISPA, founded in 1995, is the trade association for providers of internet services, representing over 200 companies.
The ISPA Awards 2024 is being held at the OWO Raffles hotel in London on November 21st. See the full shortlist here.
Residents and businesses based in rural East of England can find out if they are covered in County Broadband’s rollout by entering their postcode at www.countybroadband.co.uk where registration to receive more information about the full fibre infrastructure is also available.
