In a surprising development, we found that UK ISP TalkTalk has partnered with a new operator called Freedom Fiber, which appears to be running an FTTP-based broadband network (Fiber-to-the-Premises) at 500 Mbit / s in the large village of Culcheth in Warrington (Cheshire, England).
The village of Culcheth Around 11,500 people live here, although as in many other places there is still no significant coverage of the gigabit-enabled broadband connection (there’s a tiny patch of Openreach’s FTTP around Medway Road, but that’s all). However, Virgin Media’s network is widespread in the surrounding communities, though for some reason they never expanded as far as Culcheth.
So far TalkTalk has mainly focused on working with Cityfibre (formerly via) FibreNation) and Openreach as their two main suppliers of full fiber broadband connections. However, the move to connect with a third party operator for the aforementioned village, especially one so new and previously unknown to us, resulted in an interesting surprise.
The development that was highlighted by ISPreview.co.uk LeafNWSshows that TalkTalk has already set up a “Register your interest” page for the project (here). “TalkTalk is building a 100% fiber optic network in Culcheth in collaboration with Freedom Fiber. The new network gives you access to average broadband speeds of up to 500 Mbit / s, compared to the current average of around 50 Mbit / s in the village, ”the website says.
As for the Manchester based Freedom fiberWe couldn’t find a website for the operator but they have a record on Companies House. According to this, FF was only founded on November 9, 2020 and its type of business is listed as “Construction of utility projects for electricity and telecommunications”. The operator was formed with a single share worth £ 1 and is its sole director Neil Mcarthur.
Mr. Mcarthur has a long history of working with various telecommunications and technology companies such as the Manchester Tech Trust, Nameco, Opal and many others. Interestingly, he was previously listed as a director for TalkTalk Technology and TalkTalk Communications until he stepped down from both positions on September 20, 2010.
There is currently quite a bit of telecom work to be seen in Culcheth itself, but all of this is done by Openreach (blocking clogged canals, building new masts and spinal cables, etc.). Some of it could be Access to the physical infrastructure (PIA) for another ISP (i.e. FF), but since the operator announced this location as part of last year’s “rural” plan, we think this applies to its own FTTP (here).
All of this is happening around the same time that TalkTalk is just beginning to adopt a £ 1.1bn takeover proposal Toscafund (Here). We asked TalkTalk for a comment, but have not yet received an answer.
UPDATE 3:31 p.m.
We got the answer from TalkTalk.
A TalkTalk spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:
“As part of our mission to make full fiber available to as many people as possible as quickly as possible and at the best possible price, we always talk to a number of FTTP manufacturers. It is important that consumers and businesses across the UK benefit from strong competition. “
We also note that the related page on their website that we linked earlier is now empty.
