The loan forms part of a £100 million debt facility to support Fibrus in connecting homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas which are currently underserved by the commercial market.
In total, the project will provide almost 170,000 Cumbrian premises with access to fast, reliable broadband, helping to lessen digital inequality and improve economic growth, productivity, and social wellbeing in these areas.
The rollout is also backed by the Government’s Project Gigabit, which aims to provide 85% of the population with gigabit-capable coverage by 2025 and reach nationwide coverage by 2030.
In April 2022 the UK Infrastructure Bank provided a £50 million loan to support Fibrus to deliver high-capacity broadband to rural homes and businesses across Northern Ireland. This initial investment has contributed to Fibrus connecting 315,000 homes across Northern Ireland to date.
Ian Brown, UK Infrastructure Bank Head of Banking and Investments, said:
Access to fast, reliable internet is a crucial part of day-to-day life, helping people to stay in touch, allowing businesses to thrive, and enabling public services to be delivered. We are pleased to support Fibrus in delivering improved digital connectivity for tens of thousands of premises that need it most.
Dominic Kearns, Fibrus Founder and CEO, said:
We are absolutely delighted to have secured this additional tranche of debt funding with the support from our existing lenders. Receiving this £100m commitment in today’s very challenging market is particularly pleasing and is a huge vote of confidence in our business.
We are now fully funded for all our existing programmes, and within two years we will have built to half a million properties that can benefit from broadband that is done right.
Colin Hutchinson, CFO of Fibrus and who led on the fundraise said:
This £100 million funding will enable Fibrus to continue in its mission to transform the lives of customers who had previously been left behind. The support from our existing lenders, including UKIB who are contributing £55 million, demonstrates the strength of our plans to bring a faster, more reliable, and affordable broadband service to the hardest to reach parts of Northern Ireland and now Cumbria. The need for Fibrus is clear in the level of penetration we are achieving, particularly in Cumbria where penetration regularly exceeds 30% within a few months of launch.
The Fibrus roll out in Northern Ireland has made a significant contribution to the digital connectivity landscape, with the region now enjoying the highest rate of connectivity of all the UK regions – sitting at 91% coverage against a UK average of 56%.
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