Revolutionising rural broadband with full fibre connectivity

Giganet community team

It’s no secret. Internet connectivity has been a problem in rural communities for many years. In fact, a report by National Broadband states rural areas are seven times more likely to be stuck with broadband speeds under 10Mb/s.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how essential high-speed connectivity is for work, education, and daily life. Faster speeds are no longer just desirable, they’re essential.  Fortunately, companies like Giganet are working to solve the problem of slow rural broadband, bringing fast and reliable full fibre to remote areas.

Tanya Thorne, Chief Marketing Officer at Giganet has said: “We’re on a mission to connect smaller towns and villages that have been forgotten by the big ISPs (Internet Service Providers). Through our full fibre infrastructure and our partners including CityFibre, we are connecting thousands of homes and businesses to better broadband every month.”

The problem of slow broadband in rural areas

Slow or unreliable internet can have serious consequences for rural communities. It can limit opportunities for work and education, reduce access to vital services, and impact the quality of life for residents. Rural areas are often neglected by internet service providers, which only exacerbates the problem as we enter a digital age.

A regional broadband report from Ofcom determined the average download speed in Scotland was approximately 72.6Mb/s in 2021. Comparatively, the average download speed in England was over 90Mb/s. These average speeds significantly decrease as you reach the rural areas of England and Scotland, where top speeds can fall below 40Mb/s.

Thanks to the introduction of full fibre broadband, outdated copper-based connections are fast becoming increasingly redundant. With speeds up to 900Mb/s being offered on an FTTP (Fibre to The Premises) connection, the advancement means full fibre broadband is over 15x faster than the average UK connection and nearly 100 times faster than the UK’s slowest. Can you believe Narbeth in Wales only get speeds of 4.71 Mb/s?!

Average broadband speeds in England:

Average broadband speeds in Scotland:

Giganet’s approach to bringing full fibre broadband to rural areas

To bring full fibre broadband to rural communities in England and Scotland, Giganet is working in partnership with a number of local councils and community groups to drive change. These partnerships help identify areas where broadband services are needed the most and support the smooth installation of our new fibre-optic infrastructure.

One of the key targets Giganet are helping to achieve is the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% (R100) program, which aims to offer superfast broadband for every home and business in Scotland.

Recently, Giganet has launched a range of full fibre broadband options in Scotland, across six of the most requested areas.

Connecting homes through CityFibre’s new full fibre network, Giganet is bringing broadband with speeds up to 900Mb/s to over 360,000 homes. These areas include Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Stirling, Renfrewshire and Aberdeen.

Rural full fibre broadband installation

How is full fibre broadband helping rural communities?

While many altnets continue to pick and choose the best locations to connect for their networks, Giganet has been bold in choosing not to limit growth by only doing what other ISPs have done before. Giganet is committed to truly levelling up the UK, ensuring remote and rural communities can be offered a faster service to their property, whether they need it right now, or in the near future.

Through this bold approach to network build, Giganet is helping to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas, via access to high-speed broadband.

Giganet full fibre brings a variety of benefits to local businesses and rural communities. From accessing online services and remote working to staying better connected with friends and family.

Full fibre is the next generation of broadband and speeds up to 900Mb/s mean much more bandwidth for you and anyone else sharing your home connection. It allows businesses, local governments and schools to improve their communication capabilities without having to spend millions on their infrastructure. Think cloud-based systems and VoIP telephony, all reliant on fast reliable connectivity.

Unlike the age of copper broadband, full fibre also offers the flexibility for future upgrades as technology progresses. Building once and building for the future means it’ll be easier and more cost-effective to improve the service for decades to come. Without a need for further civil work or new infrastructure.

With the full fibre rollout in full swing, it’s certainly an exciting time for rural communities across England and Scotland. You can join us on our journey and keep up to date with how Giganet helps local communities via updates on our Facebook Page.

If you’d like to find out when you can get connected to our full fibre broadband, check your postcode on our broadband page.