News

Truespeed, an alternative builder of full fibre broadband, has announced that a significant portion of its workforce, potentially around 150 employees, are now at risk of redundancy. The company’s ambitious plans to deliver a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to homes in the South West of England will also experience a slowdown.

Currently, Truespeed’s rural network primarily serves premises in Devon, Wiltshire, and Somerset. They have already covered 91,000 premises ready for service, a significant increase from 75,000 in May 2023. The company boasts over 17,000 customers, up from 15,000. Truespeed had set a target of reaching 500,000 properties by the end of 2026, but this will need to be revised due to the current circumstances.

Truespeed is funded by a total investment of £175 million, with £134 million already dedicated to physical builds from Aviva. However, like other digital network builders, the company is facing challenges, including rising costs, aggressive competition, and the need to secure consumer uptake. These factors have deterred investors from committing new funds to operators in this market.

As a result, Truespeed is adjusting its business plan to align with the funding limitations and higher capital costs. The company intends to refocus on improving sales and customer penetration within its existing network while scaling back the rate of new infrastructure deployment. This shift in strategy necessitates a consultation process with staff to realign teams and roles to the revised ambition.

Truespeed remains committed to connecting and serving as many customers as possible with its ultrafast full fibre network. To achieve some level of financial self-sufficiency, the company is reducing all forms of expenditure. The rollout of the network will continue, albeit at a slower pace until additional funding can be secured. Unfortunately, this situation has implications for jobs, and approximately 150 workers may face redundancy.

Last year, Truespeed encountered difficulties when the state aid-supported Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) program terminated two contracts with the company due to delays in deploying a full fibre network covering 15,172 premises.

The post Sad News for Truespeed as Workforce Faces Redundancy and Fibre Broadband Rollout Slows appeared first on satProviders.