What are altnets?
Altnets provide an alternative to Openreach-powered ISPs – but should you consider their services?
The story of British internet connectivity starts with a state-owned company which until 1981 was a monopoly holder across the nation’s telecommunications sector.
If you’re reading this with images of yellow BT vans and Maureen Lipman adverts flashing before your eyes, the brand we’re referring to was actually the Post Office.
Until the early Eighties, it was the Post Office you contacted to get a phone line put in, or to report a fault.
At a time when telecommunications was (rightly) perceived to be on the cusp of rapid growth, British Telecom was founded as a state-owned corporation independent of the Post Office.
They launched in the same year as the first alternative to what had hitherto been a monopoly service, when Cable & Wireless launched their Mercury Communications subsidiary.
However, Mercury still relied on BT’s network. Customers had to dial 131 followed by a ten-digit customer code before they could start entering a conventional telephone number.
Needless to say, this was not popular with owners of dial phones.
The concept of other companies piggybacking on the infrastructure developed by BT continues to this day, albeit under the auspices of BT’s arms-length Openreach platform.
If you subscribe to Sky, TalkTalk or numerous other ISPs, their data is piped along Openreach (nee BT) cables into your home.
However, there is an alternative – quite literally.
Widening the ‘net
Altnets are named after the alternative networks their data is transmitted on.
Buried underground alongside Openreach infrastructure will be separate cables exclusively carrying data on behalf of the installing network and its customers.
Different parts of the UK tend to have separate altnets with a strong local presence – Grain in Cumbria, Hyperoptic in London, and so forth.
The best known alternative network is Virgin Media, which has reportedly now rolled out coverage to 55 per cent of UK premises.
There is also the unique status of KCOM, which retains a monopoly over Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire for complex historic reasons.
The pros and cons of altnets
Because they use proprietary full fibre broadband networks, altnets tend to offer rapid data speeds, far eclipsing Openreach’s Fibre to the Cabinet or ADSL connections.
These smaller companies are more likely to retain local tech support and customer service channels, with less reliance on overseas call centres or labyrinthine web portal ‘help’ forms.
Being based locally often helps firms to diagnose and resolve network issues, while consumers tend to be more sympathetic to local businesses than multinational corporations.
Having one firm managing everything from your router and cabling to billing and upgrades avoids the circular blame game which may occur when several companies are involved.
However, there are potential drawbacks.
Altnets have to invest heavily in rolling out their own proprietary networks, so costs are often higher than with national ISPs able to harness Openreach cables already laid in the ground.
Minimum line speeds tend to be high – which also generally means higher costs – even though some consumers don’t need the lightning-fast connectivity full fibre delivers.
We don’t list smaller or regional altnets on our site because they’re statistically unlikely to be active in your area, and it’s frustrating when a deal isn’t available where you live.
Nonetheless, if an altnet serves your home address, it’s well worth considering their packages and services as an alternative to Openreach-powered ISPs.
