Fibrus extend full fibre to Millisle, County Down

Fibrus, a rural specialist full fibre broadband provider, has rolled out its network to the village of Millisle in County Down, Northern Ireland.

1,268 homes and businesses in the village will now be able to sign up for Fibrus full fibre broadband with download speeds of up to 1Gbps.

Other areas to be connected by Fibrus in recent months include Whitehead, Kirkubbin and Randalstown.

Rollout in Millisle

Millisle is one of the latest rural villages in Northern Ireland to be passed by Fibrus' full fibre to the home broadband, bringing residents speeds of up to 1Gbps.

1,268 premises, including homes and businesses, can now sign up for Fibrus broadband, with deals ranging from £24.99 per month for Full Fibre 150 with average download speeds of 159Mbps, to £44.99 per month for Full Fibre 1000 with average download speeds of 982Mbps.

Fibrus also boast a WiFi 6 Amazon eero router and the option to add a digital home phone line with anytime calls for just £9.99 extra per month.

The provider also promises no mid-contract price hikes, which sets them apart from larger players including BT and Virgin Media who put up prices by around 8% this Spring.

Read more in our review of Fibrus broadband.

Broadband options

It's worth noting however, that while rural, many properties in Millisle already have access to full fibre broadband through Openreach.

Resellers of the wholesale full fibre network include BT, Sky, TalkTalk, EE, Vodafone and Plusnet, among others, so residents already have a good choice of fast broadband.

While competition between more than one full fibre network is somewhat advantageous, overbuild, as its termed, can also make investment less financially viable in the long run.

For full fibre investment to be profitable its been said it needs to achieve a take-up rate of around 40%, and while Openreach are currently seeing take-up of 34%, Fibrus' take-up is so far around 24%, with 80,000 customers as of May 2024.

While Fibrus do focus on underserved and harder to reach rural areas, Thinkbroadband analysis has also recently noted 18.5% of Ofcom Area 3 (the least competitive exchanges) premises have the choice between 2 or more full fibre networks.

Openreach are also specifically targeting rural areas, for example, with 400,000 premises covered in its recent announcement of 517 new build locations for its full fibre to the home broadband.

Shane Haslem, Chief Operating Officer at Fibrus, said, "Fibrus is committed to improving connectivity in rural and regional communities, having already extended our network to over 350,000 premises in Northern Ireland and Cumbria.

"We aim to enhance the lives of residents in underserved areas, addressing longstanding connectivity challenges. The introduction of full fibre broadband services in townlands such as Millisle will have a positive impact on the daily experiences of locals, redefining the way families and businesses go about their lives.

"We are thrilled that even more communities are benefiting from our revolutionary network. Fibrus is committed to reshaping the broadband landscape, bridging the digital divide and empowering communities with enhanced connectivity, fostering growth, prosperity and digital inclusion.".