Basalt Infrastructure Partners Fund, which holds majority stakes in both businesses, has said the merger is a “pro-active move” in the competitive UK fibre market, bringing greater scale and combining routes to market for these established fibre assets.
The combined business will be led by Oliver Helm, CEO of FullFibre, and will integrate both companies existing footprints and continue the build out in more rural regions.
The merger will also create one of the larger offerings by UK altnets, with a network accessible by over 250,000 homes and businesses Ready for Service (RFS) today, with an ambition to deliver 1 million live premises through a wholesale business model.
The internet service provider (ISP) of Digital Infrastructure, BeFibre, which today provides retail services via both the FullFibre and Digital Infrastructure networks, will remain part of the group as a customer of the enhanced wholesale platform.
Wil Jones, partner, Basalt, said, “The UK fibre sector is maturing and, through this merger, we will create a business with substantial scale, under a single wholesale platform. This will ensure long-term success and strengthen our position in the market to accelerate the plans of both businesses.
“This consolidation places us well to take advantage of opportunities in the UK fibre market and continue our investment in network rollout across the UK, enhancing the platform’s ability to deliver increasingly essential fibre infrastructure in historically under-served areas.”
Oliver Helm, CEO, FullFibre (pictured), added, “Both Digital Infrastructure and FullFibre have built exceptionally skilled teams, with complementary capabilities. Together, we will accelerate the pace at which we roll out and connect customers to our fibre network.
“The merged organisation will sit in the top tier of well-established, alternative networks. With this substantive scale, we will continue our single-minded focus on delivering exceptional network infrastructure to our ISPs, and their customers and communities in turn.”