Fiber optic builder and UK ISP Brsk has announced today that their new gigabit-capable and “open access” Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network has just started to go live in the Portwood (Stockport) area of Greater Manchester, which follows a similar development in Accrington last month.
The operator, which is currently targeting parts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire, first began their rollout – during early 2021 – in the village of Cottingley, which has since been followed by the towns of Keighley and Bingley, as well as Clayton, Allerton & Sandy Lane, Heaton & Daisy Hill, Burnley, Padiham, Bradford, Queensbury, Thornton and Accrington.
GRADE: Brsk, which in early April 2022 claimed to have covered 27,000 homes with 2,000 customers live, is supported by private equity firm Advencap.
Brsk is also planning to cover over 200,000 homes in areas of Stockport and Greater Manchester including Edgeley, Portwood, Stockport West, Stockport North, Didsbury, Chorlton, Cheadle, Davyhulme, Fallowfield, Flixton, Gatley, Hazel Grove, Heald Green, Hulme, Moss Side, Poynton, Rusholme, Sale, Timperley and Urmston.
John Steward, Digital Infrastructure Lead at Greater Manchester Combined Authority, said:
“We welcome this announcement from Brsk and are happy to see significant investment in the Greater Manchester region, which will boost our digital economy. Throughout the pandemic our businesses and citizens relied on communications services more than ever, so it’s great to see communities in South Manchester being supported with next generation connectivity.
Along with our work to fix the digital divide, we are ensuring Greater Manchester becomes a world leading digital-city region that puts residents at the heart of our plans.”
The first customers in Portwood can get the first 3 months of their broadband service for free, when they sign up to an 18-month contract. Prices typically start from £25 per month for an unlimited 100Mbps symmetric speed package (including a free installation and router), which rises to £45 for their top 900Mbps package. In addition, there’s also a “guarantee” of “no price rises” during that term.
