Embracing the different needs of our flock

Since we started in 2020 we've heard a lot of great feedback from our flock and beyond. People have embraced the flexibility of our rolling plan but we realised that we were leaving out a group of people who wanted to join our flock. They knew where they'd be living for the next year and beyond and they asked us why they needed to pay a joining fee if they were happy to commit to a longer term.

This led us to re-consider what we could offer our customers. We realised to be truly flexible to the needs of a larger group of people we needed to offer more.

Saving £££ for those who want to nest with us for the long-term

For those joining on our new 12-month plan there is no setup cost to get you connected. This is why we ask for the longer commitment to make sure that we can operate sustainably for the long-term.

This is a fixed-term plan with your prices secure for 12 months and at the end you'll switch onto our best rolling plan automatically.

We've still got our great 1-month rolling deal

Our 1-month rolling plan is still the best option out there if you need flexibility. Same great monthly price for superfast fibre and no cost to you if you need to leave. We know you're not always sure where you'll be in 6 months time so it's nice to have a load off your mind with a plan as flexible as you are.

You're still protected by our 12-month price promise and won't see a price rise in your first 12 months with Cuckoo.

Whatever plan you choose you've great three incredible speeds to choose from. See what speed you could get with our postcode checker and start your switch to broadband that starts good, stays good and does good.

New 12-month plans with free setup

Today we launched our new 12-month plans that let new customers get connected with no set-up cost. Zilch. Zero. Nil. We heard that this was a barrier for customers who wanted to switch to Cuckoo so we fixed it. It's now easier than ever to switch to Broadband that starts good, stays good and does good

Our customers (or as we know them, our flock) can now pay £54.99 for 1Gb full-fibre on a one-month rolling contract with no exit fees and the highest ranked customer service based on MoneySavingExpert. And to give them options without the confusion, we're also offering 125Mb FTTP at £39.99 and of course, 80Mb FTTC (including landline) at £29.99, still on one-month rolling contracts.

Since we completed our FTTP talks with our network partners in mid-August we've managed to successfully deliver fully automated full-fibre broadband in just 2 months.

This is a mighty achievement for such a tiny team and we're rightly proud of each and every one of them. We were able to deliver it by harnessing the power of our Cuckoo technology. A true collaboration between Tech, Brand & UX, Growth and Service.

As ever with Cuckoo we took a customer-first approach, starting with the journey for new customers. In an industry full of jargon and complexity, how could we make understanding which technology or package is right for you as intuitive as possible? So instead of focusing on relentless speed adjectives, we focused on customer value based in the real world. Like how many people you can seamlessly video call with.

We also created the ability for customers to upgrade (and downgrade!) their plans for existing customers from scratch. This means, unlike other suppliers, you can easily switch from FTTC to FTTP (providing you have the right connection), without having to waste time and call us. That's right, it's fully automated from the get-go.

FTTP replaces the copper wire that connects most homes to the internet with fibre. FTTP broadband connections are faster, more reliable and cost less to upkeep.

As Tabatha outlined in her blog 'How full fibre can make your life better' here are just 5 reasons to switch to full fibre:

Full-fibre is currently being rolled out across the UK, so different areas are getting it at different times. Cuckoo’s FTTP footprint will now cover any Openreach FTTP upgrade areas in the UK, with FTTP coverage expected to reach 40% of homes by the end of 2022, and 85% by 2025.

And our Fast 80MB FTTC speed still offers brilliant broadband for everyone waiting for their FTTP connection. We'll also be regularly checking our flock's connection status so as soon as Openreach or one of our other lovely network partners get them connected, we'll let them know straight away, and get you upgraded for free (usually £60).

Broadband is broken; Slow speeds; Complex deals; High prices; And really, really bad service.

At Cuckoo, we’re doing the opposite, by offering the fastest and fairest speeds in the UK, where customers are genuinely, properly, actually put first.

We can’t wait to show the world even more of the stuff we’re building: all part of our plan to make the internet frictionless.

Cuckoo is a new challenger broadband company backed by successful investors with experience from Octopus, Bulb and Monzo

Cuckoo offers the fastest speeds, the fairest prices and fantastic customer service

Monzo, Starling and Revolut took on the banks. Bulb, Ovo and Octopus took on the energy providers. Cuckoo is taking on the broadband companies

We’re rated 4.5/5 on Trustpilot and were voted the top broadband provider for customer service by MoneySavingExpert

We’ve recently raised $6m from RTP and JamJar (backed Oatly, Deliveroo, Bulb) and have been featured in TechCrunch, the Telegraph, CityAM and Wired

This FTTP launch sits alongside other unique Cuckoo features such as scheduling your switches in advance, naming your router and password ahead of time and automatically moving home with Cuckoo. We'll also soon be launching a very fast service indeed. Possibly the worlds fastest...Watch this space.

Now all you need to do is use our postcode checker to see if your address is ready for full fibre speeds.

Today, Tuesday 19th October, marks the launch of our 1Gb fibre to the premise (FTTP) broadband across the UK.

Barely 18 months old, Cuckoo launches full-fibre broadband

Everyone knows it’s no fun when your internet stops working. But when the connection along your old copper broadband cable is broken, this is exactly what happens.

And because copper cables are vulnerable to corrosion and generally require regular maintenance, it can make those internet outages annoyingly frequent.

But a fibre-optic connection into your home is way more durable - they can even last up to 40 years with minimal maintenance.

So in theory, you're looking at a few decades of an uninterrupted internet connection. Bliss.

More than half the UK now subscribe to a video on demand service, like Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Which means plenty of us will have experienced the dreaded buffering circle, or a screen that's so pixellated you can't actually make out who's saying what.

Full fibre speeds will make all that a thing of the past.

And because you'll want to keep using the internet on all your other devices at the same time as your TV, you can see why full-fibre broadband will help you finally join the dream stream.

3. No more gli..gli...glitchy video calls

From daily work meetings to weekly family get togethers, video calls have become a mainstay in our lives.

And no doubt you'll have your own tales of important presentations going wrong, or quiz nights where you're repeating the same question again. And again. And you get the idea.

So yes, it's another case of full-fibre broadband to the rescue, because of its much lower latency (the time delay that often leads to stilted video calls) and jitter (the variability in this delay). Which means seamless video calls for as long as you want. It can't, however, teach people how to use the mute button.

Whether it’s a laptop, mobile, smart watch, PS5 or smart speaker, chances are you have a surprising number of devices connected to the internet - particularly if you live with other people. And the truth is, we're only going to get more and more of these devices in our homes.

And the problem here is bandwidth. All of these things compete for it and regular fibre broadband simply can't provide enough of it to go around.

Full fibre provides far, far more bandwidth for all your devices to comfortably work at their very best, simultaneously, 24/7. Making your home a frustration-free zone.

Most of the time, we're more concerned with download speeds: how fast we can get information from the internet. But upload speeds - how fast data can move from your device to the internet - are still really important. Here are just a few examples:

Video calls - Full fibre will guarantee that you'll be seen in glorious high definition, and not as a pixellated blur.

Uploading photo albums and videos - If you want to put your latest exploits on your social media account, full fibre upload speeds can potentially save you hours of time.

Live-streaming - if you want to live stream anything, like gaming on Twitch, then a great upload speed is pretty essential if you want anyone to watch.

There's lots of general noise about just how good full-fibre broadband is, but we realised it would probably help to dive into the detail and give our top 5 reasons to switch, so you can see for yourself.

How full fibre can make your life better

Currently, the majority of broadband in the UK uses technology called Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC). This is where the fibre optic cable connects to, you've guessed it, a cabinet in your neighbourhood. They're usually green and about the size of a small bookcase or a very large dog. You've probably walked past them loads of times. It's at these cabinets that the fibre optic cable connects to copper wires that then carries broadband into people's homes.

So up to now, your broadband speed has generally been affected by how far you live from the cabinet. The further away you are, the more copper wire involved. Which means the slower your speed will be. Plus, copper can also degrade over time and with bad weather, making it more unreliable too.

The difference between fibre (FTTC) and full fibre (FTTP)

Full fibre uses Fibre to the Premises technology (FTTP) which means that the glass-strand filled fibre optic cable runs all the way to your home. No more weather-beaten copper wires and definitely no need to live near a green cabinet. Just pure broadband signal travelling at the speed of light, all the way into your living room.

So you and your household can stream 4K movies, download massive files, have seamless video calls AND game to your heart's content, all at the same time.

This is the bit that's being run by OpenReach and other providers that build the UK broadband infrastructure. They're responsible for all the road-digging and cable-laying.

Now you might be lucky and already have a full-fibre connection (about 1 in 4 homes currently do). But if not, OpenReach and the altnets - like CityFibre - are working hard to get you connected. If you're a Cuckoo customer, we'll be checking regularly whether or not we can offer you full fibre, and will let you know as soon as the super-speedy 1Gb is an option at your home. When they connect you, they'll also give you a shiny new piece of kit that attaches to your wall (you'll need this in addition to your router to get full fibre).

Don't worry if you're not sure if you have a full-fibre connection. You can just pop your postcode in on our website and we'll let you know.

And if you don't yet have one you can sleep easy, knowing that if you're on our 80Mb/s speed, it's still one of the fastest FTTC speeds in your area. And better yet, once you do get a full-fibre connection, we'll waive the upgrade connection fee, usually £60.

You might be wondering what all the full fibre hype is about. And why here at Cuckoo, we're so excited to be launching our 115Mb and 1GB speeds.

New 12-month plans with free setup

Embracing the different needs of our flock

Saving £££ for those who want to nest with us for the long-term

We've still got our great 1-month rolling deal

Three brilliant speeds to choose from

More from Cuckoo

Barely 18 months old, Cuckoo launches full-fibre broadband

How full fibre can make your life better

Full fibre: what is it & why is it so good?

How fast can you go?