What are altnets? | The rise of fibre alternative networks
What is an altnet broadband provider?
Altnets are alternative broadband providers to ‘the big 4’ – BT, Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk – that have been dominating the market for years. These smaller, independent networks are transforming our digital landscape with their full-fibre broadband connections.
The UK altnet market is booming. There are now over 100 companies to pick your broadband from.
Why so many now?
The government announced Project Gigabit in 2019. A flagship £5 billion programme to upgrade the UK’s broadband infrastructure so that it can deliver superfast, full-fibre broadband to a third of homes by 2025. With nationwide coverage expected by 2030.
Knowing that this wouldn’t be possible on the main network provider, BT Openreach, alone, the government allocated a huge part of this budget to helping new companies set up and start their own full fibre infrastructures. Hello altnets! Private money is also pouring in to these too, with an additional £30 billion predicted to be invested by the end of 2024.
How do they operate?
Once approved by regulator Ofcom, these new alternative broadband providers have the power to install and maintain their own, fibre optic networks.
Unlike Openreach, they aren’t nationwide. And they aren’t tied into any regimented rollout plans. They are dozens of smaller, localised providers, with the goal of laying fibre as quickly as possible. Looking to gain more of the market share, many have reached out to the more rural, isolated and disadvantaged communities that have been so far overlooked.
All of these new providers run on full fibre networks, meaning they can bring households and businesses gigabit 1000 plus speeds as they are not restricted to the older, copper lines installed years ago.
Can altnets be trusted?
The short answer is – yes!
Do your research and check on Trustpilot. But for most you’ll see impressive scores, especially when compared against other providers such as Virgin or TalkTalk. Their smaller size often works in favour with many customers finding they get better, more personable service and quicker resolutions if anything does go wrong. These growing businesses are focused on providing the best service they can and improving their share in the market.
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Competitive pricing
Along with better customer service, they also often offer cheaper prices. Agile and competitive, these new altnets have more incentive to provide lower monthly prices. Many also give free-for-six-months deals to help gain the trust to switch.
Lots of altnets are also openly against the mid-price contract rises that many of the other big operators habitually follow.
Which altnet should I choose?
There are loads of great altnets, but not all will be available to you. Use our postcode finder to find out which you can access.
Below are the four highly recommended that we currently have available on Fibre Compare.
Gigaclear
Since 2010, this altnet has been on a mission to unlock the potential of poorly-served, rural communities by delivering fast and reliable broadband to people’s doorsteps. Its state-of-the-art network stretches across more than 22 counties in the South West, the Midlands and the South East – and is growing all the time.
It offers four full fibre options, from 300Mbps to 900Mbps. All are symmetrical. This means that they give the same upload and download speeds. Prices start from £15 a month.
Brsk
Brsk was created with the aim of upgrading broadband infrastructure to full fibre in UK towns across the north that other broadband providers have largely ignored. Launching July 2021 in a tiny village called Cottingley, its seen a successful rapid rise ever since and is now bringing superfast and affordable internet to homes across West Yorkshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and West Midlands.
There are three full fibre packages – from 100 to 1000 Mbps – to choose from starting from £23 a month. Brsk also offers month-to-month contract options.
Hyperoptic
Hyperoptic is currently the UK's largest exclusively full fibre broadband provider, connecting over 850,000 premises with superfast broadband.
There are four available packages – from 5Hyperoptic 0Mb to 1Gb – all available on a monthly rolling contract if required.
Community Fibre
Community Fibre is a London-based broadband provider available to over a million homes in the capital, that offers high-speed full fibre connections of up to 3Gbps.
There are four options ranging from 150Mbps to an amazing 3 Gbps. All speeds are fully symmetrical upload and download. Contracts are 12 or 24 months and prices start from £21.
## The future of altnets
Where there's fierce competition, only the strongest can survive. Many of these new alternative providers are slowly being squeezed out of the full fibre race. Most will eventually be bought up and merged by the more successful altnets.
The biggest altnet is currently CityFibre, reaching 3.5 million premises at the moment with a target of reaching 8 million. The UK’s largest independent full fibre platform is awash with acquisitions and has seen several recent takeovers with many more expected to come over the next 24 months.
What do this mean for the customer?
If you pick an altnet that then gets taken over, it’s unlikely that this means any real change for you and your broadband. Often the only difference you’ll notice is a name change as you slowly get transitioned to a new brand.