Community Fibre announces acquisition of Box Broadband

London’s largest alternative fibre network expands into Surrey and West Sussex

London, UK – 11th August 2021 – Community Fibre, London’s fastest 100% full fibre broadband provider, announces today that it has acquired a majority stake in Box Broadband, a Surrey-based full fibre network operator. The acquisition enables Community Fibre to continue to focus on building in London while expanding a successful FTTH platform in the UK and it provides Community Fibre with expertise in suburban/rural build. In addition, the acquisition will see Community Fibre share its own expertise and experience in the industry with Box Broadband, which will remain an independent operational entity trading under the Box brand in the South of England. Graham Sargood will continue to lead this operation.

Box Broadband provides a full optical fibre network in Surrey and West Sussex and has passed 7,000 homes. The majority investment from Community Fibre will support an accelerated network roll-out to 200,000 homes across the South of England by 2024. Community Fibre is a community-focused Internet Service Provider (ISP) delivering the best products, at the most affordable prices for all, including the most digitally excluded.

Through the acquisition of Box Broadband, Community Fibre will continue its mission to close the digital divide and promote social inclusion by bringing connectivity to rural areas underserved by the existing large ISPs. The acquisition, supported by its shareholders Warburg Pincus LLC, DTCP, Amber Infrastructure and Railpen will enable Community Fibre to continue to accelerate the expansion of full-fibre broadband to more households and businesses beyond London.

Graeme Oxby, CEO of Community Fibre, said “Box Broadband has already established itself as a provider of fast and reliable trusted services to communities in Surrey and West Sussex that are underserved from a speed perspective. As such, this is an exciting opportunity for us to invest in a company that shares our vision of affordable connectivity for all, and to expand across the South. With our backing from Warburg Pincus, DTCP, Amber Infrastructure and Railpen we will be able to support Box Broadband’s ambitious growth plans and provide the operational experience, as well as technical and commercial knowledge of best practice and purchasing scale in order to build quickly and efficiently.”

Graham Sargood, CEO of Box Broadband, said “We are delighted to receive investment from Community Fibre who has established itself as champions for the many underserved communities in London. With their investment and operational scale, we will be able to quickly ramp up our build and provide high speed and affordable services to many more customers in our target areas.”

Community Fibre is London’s fastest alternative full fibre network and has over 300,000 homes ready for service. It is committed to having 1 million homes in the capital customer ready with its 100% full fibre multi-gigabit capable broadband by 2023. The acquisition of Box Broadband will enable it to expand beyond this and connect more homes and businesses across the South of England.

The community it serves has always been at the heart of Community Fibre’s business and this will also be reflected at Box Broadband. Providing free connectivity to community centres and free or low-cost connection for vulnerable customers can be just as important in rural areas as it is in London, even though it is not on the same scale.  

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About Community Fibre

Community Fibre is future proofing London communities by delivering 100% full-fibre broadband throughout the capital city. By believing in a more inclusive future where everyone has access to better broadband, Community Fibre offers the fastest 100% full fibre broadband in London, with up to 10 Gbps for businesses and up to 3Gbps for consumers, at the most competitive prices on the market. Through offering more reliable and affordable 100% full fibre connections, Community Fibre empowers communities, enabling them to connect with friends and family and access crucial services online. 

Community Fibre was named the UK’s best Consumer Internet Service Provider at Internet Service Provider Association (ISPA) Awards 2020 and the Operator of the Year at World Communication Awards 2020.

Currently Community Fibre operates in the following London boroughs: Barnet, Brent, Bexley Camden, City of London, Croydon, Ealing, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth and Westminster. 

Media Contacts

AxiCom for Community Fibre

[email protected]