Quickline Kicks Off 2023 FTTP Broadband Build in Lincolnshire UK

Rural-focused network builder and ISP Quickline, which last week unveiled their 2023 rollout plan for reaching 96 locations (55,000 premises) across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire with their full fibre (FTTP) broadband network (here), has today revealed that engineers are starting work in South Ferriby, Tealby and North Willingham.

The newly-recruited in-house infrastructure Build Team – comprising a variety of roles (from civils operatives and cablers to splicers) – has just begun its first projects in the three locations, undertaking preparatory work before fibre cables are installed. At present, this mostly consists of the Test, Rod and Roping (TRR) phase.

Apparently, all the homes and businesses across these communities will have access to Quickline’s full fibre (XGS-PON) broadband later this year. But one interesting aspect of this news is that neither South Ferriby nor Tealby were mentioned in last week’s rollout plan for 2023, although it’s possible they were previously part of an older plan (we’re checking).

Speaking of the older plan, Quickline has already extended FTTP to more 10,000 premises across over 20 rural communities, which took just 8-months to achieve. But the 2023 deployment plan is clearly much more significant in scale.

Chris Akrill, Quickline’s Head of Fibre Operations, said:

“Our dedicated in-house Build Team is a vital addition to the Quickline business, providing us with the resources to push on at speed with our full fibre rollout programme.

We were delighted with the calibre of applicants we received during the recruitment process and it’s fantastic to be in the position to send this talented group of people out into rural communities across our network area.

We have a busy schedule over the coming months as we continue to expand our network of full fibre infrastructure to some of the most remote corners of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and our internal team will play a key role in our accelerated rollout.”

The deployment is being supported by an investment of £500m from Northleaf Capital Partners, which acquired the company in 2021. Quickline has previously stated that this would fuel their ambition to cover 500,000 UK premises in rural and semi-rural areas with “ultrafast broadband” via a mix of FTTP and 5G based FWA (wireless) infrastructure “by 2025” (here). The operator has already covered 300,000 premises via just their FWA network.

Residential customers covered by their newer FTTP network are usually charged from £29 per month on a 24-month term for 100Mbps (50Mbps upload) speeds with free installation, and that goes up to £49 for their top 900Mbps (450Mbps upload) tier. But Quickline are also giving their customers some peace of mind with a commitment that their tariffs will remain unchanged for 24-months.

UPDATE 11:47am

Quickline has informed us that South Ferriby and Tealby are recent additions to the 2023 plan, since last week’s list didn’t yet include those areas where the newly-established in-house Build Team will operate.