New Cabinets Help Gigaclear Build Full Fibre to 5 Oxfordshire UK Villages

Abingdon-based UK broadband ISP Gigaclear has expanded their street cabinet options in order to help serve smaller communities, with the first to benefit from this approach being five small villages in Oxfordshire (England) – Burford, Islip, Cassington, Tackley and Weston-on-the-Green.

The announcement doesn’t spell out precisely what has changed, except to say that recent technology developments have meant that the operator can now deploy three street cabinets of different sizes (i.e. we assume this reflects the ability to cram more stuff into smaller / more power efficient spaces).

NOTE: The Infracapital-backed operator is investing up to £700m to reach 500,000 Ready for Service (RFS) UK premises across 23 counties by the end of 2024, or the end of 2023 if you include built but not yet RFS premises (they’ve already covered 380,000).

First to benefit from this new capability will be 1,800 premises (homes and businesses) in the five Oxfordshire villages where work is currently underway. Burford is already ‘live’, with cabinets in the other four communities due to be connected to Gigaclear’s network next month. The work forms part of Gigaclear’s wider £84 million investment in Oxfordshire.

Delivery Director, Ben Woods, said:

“Recent technology developments combined with existing proven technology have meant our cabinets are now more efficient and more flexible. We now have a stable of three cabinets that more closely align with a range of community sizes allowing us to reach more remote and smaller communities.”

Unlike many other broadband providers who compete to offer their services in dense, urban areas, we’re focussing on harder-to-reach communities that are far less likely to have a choice of supplier so it is important we have the capability to reach them.

The continued expansion of our network in south Oxfordshire demonstrates Gigaclear’s commitment to delivering fast and reliable broadband to rural communities in the county that, in many cases, would otherwise struggle to access ultrafast speeds.

Having access to reliable and fast broadband speeds is no longer a luxury but is necessary in order for many people to live their lives fully, whether it’s working from home, streaming or accessing other online entertainment.”

Residential customers of the service typically pay from £17 a month (£40 after 18-months) for a symmetric 200Mbps broadband package on an 18-month term, and this rises to £49 (£79 after 18-months) for their top 830Mbps plan. All packages include a wireless router and free installation. But they’re currently also running a special offer that gives 500Mbps for £20 per month.

The attached picture is from one of Gigaclear’s big / older style street cabinets, since they didn’t provide any pictures of the new line-up.