19 July 2016

Hyperoptic CEO Dana Tobak says financiers are recognising the importance of FTTP in providing a boost to the UK.

Hyperoptic will receive funding worth £21m from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to roll out fibre broadband to more than a half-a-million homes in cities across the UK.

The company will use the eight-year loan to support its planned increase of 1Gbps internet access to urban areas that only have slow access at present. 

Hyperoptic currently operates in 13 UK cities but has already announced expansion to 20. With the EIB backing it aims to reach more than 300,000 homes in the next three years.

The financing means that the company now has funding totalling more than £75m. Earlier, it received financial backing from Quantum Strategic Partners, a private investment fund managed by Soros. 

Hyperoptic claims the investments mean it will remain the UK’s largest 1Gbps FTTP broadband provider. CEO Dana Tobak says: “The confidence of both EIB and Soros Fund Management supports the importance of FTTP in providing a boost to the UK’s digital infrastructure and economy.” 

The EIB’s funding of Hyperoptic represents its largest ever dedicated backing for an internet network investment programme in the UK. 

Since 1975, the bank has provided more than £5bn for broadband and telecoms across the UK, and has supported investments by Vodafone, EE, BT, Gigaclear, Arqiva and Inmarsat.

The EIB is directly owned by EU member states and includes a 16 per cent share that is currently held by the UK government.