Stephen Horwood and wife Shabana Kausar are the first residents in Thame to connect to the UK’s Fastest Broadband as Swish Fibre break new ground in Oxfordshire with their future-proofed 10,000Mbps capable Full Fibre network, while neighbouring town Chinnor are also expected to be live with Swish’s state-of-the-art service in the coming weeks.
Stephen and Shabana, who both work from home as software developers for the NHS, received their service on Wednesday, 15 December and couldn’t be happier with their new connection. Stephen commented, “As my wife and I both work from home as software developers for the NHS, we need a strong and reliable broadband connection.
“In truth, we struggled with our previous service, which wasn’t Full Fibre, and one of the key things we’ve come to understand is that upload speeds are just as important as download speeds. With Swish, you’re getting quite literally the best you can get. It’s great to be the first happy customers in the area, and I’m sure they’ll be many more in Thame following suit.”
As Swish drive the initial rollout of their network across the South of England, they continue to stand up for consumer choice, pledging to educate the nation on the difference between 100% Fibre-optic Full Fibre (FTTP – Fibre-to-the-premises) and part-fibre or Fake Fibre (FTTC – Fibre-to-the-cabinet) networks, which include speed-sapping copper cable across the crucial last leg of the journey from the cabinet into the home.
This is important because there’s a huge difference in speed, performance and reliability between the two. Part-fibre networks can’t provide download speeds much above 80 Mbps and upload speeds of 20 Mbps, whereas Full Fibre can offer speeds up to 100 times faster at 10,000Mbps today and potentially even faster download and upload speeds in the future.
The move, in Thame, is also particularly close to the hearts of Swish Fibre co-founders and Oxfordshire residents Alistair Goulden and Conor Nolan, whose collective dream of delivering a vital Full Fibre infrastructure to the UK now resonate a little closer to home.
Alistair comments, “As a resident of Watlington in South Oxfordshire for over 20 years, I’m particularly delighted to be bringing our future-proofed 10,000Mbps capable Full Fibre Broadband to Thame and also Chinnor in the not too distant future. Whenever we go live in a new town, it’s always so special, but there is an extra bit of magic in this one for me.
“My children went to Lord Williams School in Thame, and as a family, we’re very much immersed in the community. Full Fibre is an enabler, and it’s an honour for all at Swish to continue to drive both social and economic growth in towns that have been previously thought to be left behind.”
Swish has also connected customers to Full Fibre broadband in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Farnham, Princes Risborough, Bourne End, Beaconsfield, Haslemere, Godalming, Gerrards Cross and of course Thame. Work continues in Chinnor, Ascot, Bagshot, Flackwell Heath, Hazlemere, Penn and Sunningdale, with more towns set to receive the service shortly.
The install also marks the first project completed by new subsidiary Swish Fibre Contracting Limited – part of the Swish Fibre Group, led by Director Michael Channing-Phillips, whose team are bolstering the Groups’ efforts to deliver their state-of-the-art product to the Home Counties.
