‘Just the beginning’: Upstart Gigaclear now has 10,000 broadband customers

Boutique fast broadband firm Gigaclear have claimed their 10,000th UK customer, the company announced.

Gigaclear uses mainly fibre-to-the-premises tech to get 1Gbps (gigabit) upload and download speeds to people in small pockets across the country.

And while they can’t – no-one can – promise customers will get those blazing fast headline speeds all the time, the company does say it guarantees minimum upload and download speeds of 50Mbps.

As Gigaclear installs its own technology, it doesn’t have to piggyback on copper wiring which slows down the majority of broadband in the UK.

It now covers 13 counties in the UK mainly in the South West, Midlands and South East.

The private firm started in 2010 and aims at businesses and high-value rural areas to install its full fibre network. The first networks it started were in Rutland and Oxfordshire in 2011.

The latest news out of the firm was that 8,000 people struggling with crappy broadband in rural Herefordshire would get access to their network.

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For comparison, one much longer-established rival, Vodafone, has around 130,000 UK broadband customers.

Once the preserve of small businesses and the lucky few, Gigaclear’s name is becoming more common to see out there.

It’s starting to sign up with councils and local authorities to provide the gear for new social housing.

Rival Hyperoptic snapped up a gigabit broadband housing deal with Thurrock Council in Essex in April 2017.

Access to decent broadband is more important to homeowners than having good shops in their high street or having a local hospital nearby, this research shows.

So 1Gbps or ‘gigabit’ broadband speeds are becoming a major selling point for homeowners as it basically ensures have a better chance of selling their homes in future.

Gigaclear claim that at gigabit speeds customers can download a three-hour film in under a minute, and upload 200 photos in less than 10 seconds.

Matthew Hare, Chief Executive, said: “We delivered our first full fibre network in rural Rutland at the end of 2011 and I’m very proud that in just over five years, Gigaclear has become such a significant challenger in the rural broadband market.”

“We are the only network delivering a totally futureproof, full fibre network that guarantees minimum upload and download speeds of 50Mbps and access to gigabit speeds in rural areas and I am very much looking forward to bringing our service to many tens of thousands more customers in the future. This is just the beginning.”