Fern Trading Limited today announced that it is consolidating Jurassic Fibre, Swish Fibre, Giganet and AllPoints Fibre into a single Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) operating entity to accelerate full-fibre delivery in the UK.

The combined group’s Internet Service Provider (ISP) brands will accelerate delivery of a ‘fast and fair’ full fibre offering for retail customers across the enlarged network.

The businesses will combine their regional operations and create a national wholesale network during the course of 2023.

The industry has seen considerable investment and growth in recent years as operators build market momentum and value. The unification of the four businesses will enable them to combine their resources, knowledge and expertise to hasten and grow full fibre network access across the UK. 

Jarlath Finnegan, currently CEO of Giganet, will lead the combined group moving forward. He said: “All four companies are excited to build upon the solid foundations they have built over the last few years as a combined force. Together, we will become even stronger through exceptional customer service, combined with a relentless focus on technology and product. We’re looking forward to expanding our presence across the country and providing even more customers with access to full fibre connectivity”.

John Browett, chairman of Fern Trading’s fibre division, said: “In the coming years, the UK fibre market is going to experience exponential change, driven by the massive need to ensure homes and businesses in every part of the UK have access to a fast and fairly priced internet service. We expect to see continued consolidation within the industry, and by combining these successful businesses now, we will be in a fantastic position to take advantage of those market opportunities as they unfold. Our ambitions have always been high, but today represents the start of even bolder aspirations for our place in the UK fibre sector”.

Fern brings together its retail and wholesale fibre businesses to accelerate UK fibre deployment

Full fibre broadband (also known as FTTP: Fibre to the Premises) will be replacing the current fibre broadband (also known as FTTC: Fibre to the Cabinet) which most homes are connected to at the moment. Your current connection contains copper between the cabinet and your home and the full fibre connection will replace any copper with new fibre optic cables which will improve your connection. If you want to know more about how it works, keep your eyes peeled for our soon-to-be published full fibre guide.

There’s a national push for us all to move online with the UK Government promising to deliver nationwide full fibre broadband coverage to 85% of the UK by 2025 and as its rolled out the current FTTC technology will be switched off. That’s why you might’ve started seeing adverts, getting things through the post and hearing more about full fibre on the TV. There’s no getting around it - it’s everywhere.

That’s why we’ve pulled together all you need to know our full-fibre broadband so you can make the decision about when you switch.

1. You’ll get faster speeds (like, really fast)

Full fibre can reach speeds of up to 1,000Mb/s (1Gb/s), whereas the average speed of a current FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) connection is only around 42Mb/s. It’s so fast that with the fastest speeds, you could download a 6 season box set in 1 min 25 seconds! On an FTTC connection, the same download could take almost 20 minutes!

The fibre optic cable that is used to connect you to full-fibre broadband is built to last and much less susceptible to damage which can lead to faults. The new technology can last 40 years, while the current copper cable lasts just 5 years. So you can expect to have little-to-no drop outs and fast speeds all the time!

Full fibre is perfect is you have a busy home and lots of devices to connect. That includes the every-day devices you use like phones, iPads & TVs but also all the smart devices you can think of like fridges, lights, security systems, thermostats and more. On the fastest packages we offer, you could stream 4K videos on 36 devices at the same time with no buffering¹. That means no more bickering about who gets to watch what when.

A recent report by truespeed.com recently found that homes in areas where full fibre is installed can increase house prices by up to £3,500². 💰

A full-fibre connection is the most secure way you can get a broadband connection into your home. That’s because the data moves close to the speed of light, making it hard for criminals to interrupt or intercept the flow of data compared to other technologies.

6. Switching speeds in the future will be easy peasy, lemon squeezy

Once you’re on a new full-fibre connection, you’ll be able to change your speed quickly and easily. Our flock can upgrade to full fibre speeds and we’ll waive the usual £60 upgrade fee, and if you’re new to the flock you can join our 12 month contract and we’ll waive the £60 set-up fee.

As full-fibre broadband is rolled out across the country, the current FTTC technology is being discontinued and one day in the future will be turned off completely. So upgrading now will save you any potential heartbreak when that happens!

8. It’s not as expensive as you might think

Our cheapest full fibre package is £39.99, you can switch to our 115Mb package, we’ve got a handy guide here if you want to find out more about the packages we often. We’re always looking for opportunities to make broadband more affordable for our flock, so watch this space 👀

9. No more sharing connections with your neighbours!

If you’re currently on a FTTC (Fibre-to-the-cabinet) connection, like our Fast package, you’ll be sharing your connection up to the cabinet with as many as 74 other homes! On full fibre, you’ll get a dedicated line straight to your home.

We want to offer everyone the opportunity to upgrade to this new technology, that’s why our current customers can upgrade to full fibre for free. You can even join Cuckoo on a 12-month contract and get free set-up, which normally costs £60!

To quote Fergie, full fibre is pretty “glamorous, glamorous”, but, we believe in always being completely honest with you, and want you to be completely informed when you decide to upgrade.  So here are some of the other things you need to consider.

Full-fibre broadband does take time to roll-out, and currently only about 25% of UK homes can get full fibre in their homes. This is rolling out quicker than you’d think, so keep your eyes peeled if you can’t get full fibre already, as it’ll come around before you know it!

As we’ve mentioned, full fibre involves installing a brand-new fibre optic connection to your home and this does involve more than simply switching around some cables. Engineers may need to install cables into your home, which can involve roadworks and the planning permission that comes with that. Sometimes, it can also involve running cables alongside your home or through your garden to get the best possible speeds to you.

3. We can’t automatically turn off your old provider

Installing a new technology means we don’t know who your old provider is, so we can’t tell them that you’re moving to Cuckoo. That means it’s up to you to break the bad news! If you’re a current Cuckoo customer who is upgrading, we’ll cancel your old connection when we have you connected to full fibre.

Our cheapest full fibre package is only £10 more expensive per month at £39.99 than our FTTC package which is £29.99 per month. So it will be an investment to upgrade to full-fibre broadband. You can see our speeds in a nutshell here.

Unfortunately, you can’t get a landline with full-fibre broadband, this is because of the type of connection that a landline uses, landline connections as a whole are unlikely to exist in a few years’ time!

If you’re ready to dive-in and give full-fibre broadband a go, we’re ready to have you! If you’re a current customer, head to your account and upgrade. If you’re new to the flock, hit “sign up” in the top right and see if we can provide you with the fastest connection you’ve ever had!


¹ https://kenstechtips.com/index.php/bt-full-fibre-broadband

² https://www.truespeed.com/blog/impact-fast-broadband-has-on-house-value/

Full-fibre broadband (also known as FTTP: Fibre to the Premises) is a brand-spanking new technology, but is it all it’s cracked up to be? In this guide, we’ll reveal all you need to know about full fibre.

Full Fibre (FTTP): Top 10 benefits

Giganet has today announced the acquisition of Cuckoo – twice voted the UK’s best broadband provider for customer service* – continuing its market leading growth in the UK as part of the Fern fibre family, which also includes Jurassic, Swish, Allpoints Fibre and Vorboss.

Since launching its fibre broadband service to households just over 12 months ago, Giganet has seen its reach extend to over nine million homes across the UK. Now, Giganet and Cuckoo will work together to disrupt the UK broadband market by prioritising service and customer experience as the rollout of full fibre accelerates over the next few years. Both providers have been vocal against ‘loyalty taxes’ and price hikes, pledging to charge loyal customers the same as new customers, and opting not to increase charges mid contract, with prices currently frozen until 2023.

As part of the acquisition, Cuckoo will become the lead consumer brand for Giganet’s core residential customers, with Giganet itself continuing to be the brand serving its growing enterprise base. Both brands will continue to benefit from the growing full fibre network partnerships that have given Giganet its national reach.

Today’s acquisition marks a meeting of minds at a time when consumers deserve more from a utility as critical as the internet. Our vision to be the best ISP in the UK aligns perfectly with Cuckoo’s goal to be the fastest and fairest, and of course, the most trusted, bringing to the market a fresh challenger that puts customers first.

What’s more, by combining the best standards in customer services with network systems excellence, both business and consumers will experience the holy grail in connectivity – high speed and incredible reliability. We’re really excited for the future of this partnership.

Cuckoo’s expertise lies in building brilliant customer experiences thanks to our supremely talented team of developers, designers, marketers, and customer service experts. Giganet are experts in building and running networks.

Together we will deliver faster, cheaper, and better broadband for millions. And we’re only just getting started.

Giganet - a multi award-winning ISP recently voted ‘Overall Fibre Provider of the Year’ at this year’s UK Fibre Awards - launched as a residential and business ISP brand in 2021 delivering full fibre connectivity across multiple platforms. Following a £250 million funding injection from Fern Trading Limited, advised by Octopus Investments, Giganet is now working to connect hundreds of thousands of UK homes and businesses through the deployment of its own full fibre network infrastructure as well as across CityFibre’s and Openreach’s nationwide footprints. Following today’s acquisition, Giganet & Cuckoo will accelerate their growth nationwide.

Cuckoo launched in 2020 to disrupt the broken telecoms sector. In the two years since launch, Cuckoo has switched thousands of customers, has been voted the top provider in the UK for customer service by MoneySavingExpert* and scaled its team to over 50 people while achieving a Glassdoor rating of 4.9/5.

* Cuckoo voted top for customer service on Money Saving Expert

Full fibre specialist extends reach to nine million homes nationwide as it takes consumer favourite Cuckoo under its wing

Giganet acquires Cuckoo in bid to shake up broadband market

Whether we realise it or not, we all have biases. Psychologists describe unconscious bias as ‘people preferences’, because by nature we can favour people who look like us, sound like us or have the same interests as us. In fact, findings from a study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University, showed bias is already present in children as young as 4 and 5 years old.

So, let’s look at a few statistics. Did you know that on average 77 jobs are submitted every second on LinkedIn? Or that there are currently 6,202 roles advertised on the Indeed ****job site? How about the fact that if you’re currently seeking a remote role in the UK, you are spoiled for choice with the the option of 59,807 available roles?!

In short, the current job market is pretty saturated - yet despite what seems like a wealth of choice, certain minority groups still experience discrimination when trying to find employment. For example, according to research from Oxford University, candidates in the UK are up to 60% less likely to receive a call back for a job if they have a ‘foreign sounding’ name.

At Cuckoo, we are working hard to craft a recruitment journey that eliminates unconscious bias as much as possible. Of course there’s always more work to do, but here are some of the things we’ve put in place to make a great start!

Words really matter, and they have the power to include or exclude. Whether it’s text for our careers page or a specific job advert, we select our words carefully to reduce the chance of deterring or disqualifying potential candidates.

Unnecessary requirements. For example ‘5+ years experience’.

Phrases like ‘young and ambitious’, or (on the other hand) ‘mature’.

Complicated and exclusive jargon and terminology.

Our diversity statement, so that it’s clear we welcome all people.

Phrases that don’t unintentionally deter people, but rather encourage them to still apply, such as:  ‘It’d be great if you also had’ or ‘We know that not every candidate will meet all of the above requirements, but we’d still love to hear from you if you’re interested in our vacancy’.

Inviting language that is friendly and conversational, and that can be easily digested and understood.

We also take extra care when it comes to the types of adjectives that we use. Research from Gaucher, Friesen and Kay (2011), shows that ‘gendered wording’ in job adverts sustains gender inequality. Including words in job adverts that are generally associated with women, such as: interpersonal, empathetic, warm, collaborative, enthusiastic and loyal, or words that are typically associated with men, such as: confident, driven, impulsive, ambitious, and determined, can strongly suggest that certain roles would be more suited to a particular gender and so encourages discrimination. 

After a role has gone live and the applications begin to roll in, the first stage in our recruitment journey is shortlisting. At this stage, we’re aiming to see suitable work experience, and/or strong transferable skills. We know simple information such as a candidate’s name can strongly suggest potential discriminatory factors like age, gender or ethnicity. So we use a setting on our Applicant Tracking System (we use TeamTailor) called ‘anonymous mode’. Anonymous mode conceals all applicants personal information and any images, and gives them a fun pseudonym (see below). This helps us to keep the focus on what truly matters. If we decide to shortlist the candidate and progress them to the screening stage, their personal information is then revealed.

Screening calls are a great way to find out more about a candidate and to introduce them to Cuckoo’s culture and values. All of our screening calls take place virtually. We carry out these 15-minute informal chats as audio only, and specifically instruct applicants in advance not to enable their videos. We recognise that someone’s physical appearance can influence (both negatively and positively) our decision making due to the biases we all have, so keeping this stage as audio only encourages us to focus on whether we feel they align with our culture and values and if they have the correct skillset/transferable skills for the role. Each screening call also follows the same structure to ensure consistency and fairness to all candidates.

For some of our roles, we ask candidates to complete a role specific task. We make sure that all of the selected candidates are given the same brief and the same amount of time to complete this. When all tasks have been submitted, we carry out a blind review. This means we remove any names or identifying factors before the hiring manager reviews the task.

At Cuckoo we are always pushing to do more, and to be better than we already are. Although we know we have worked hard to remove unconscious bias from our recruitment process - we also recognise that there’s still a way to go. Here are some of the things we are still working on:

There are some brilliant job sites and platforms that exist to create opportunities for minority groups. We aim to advertise our roles on these sites, to truly reach a more diverse pool of talent.

For neurodiverse individuals, there may be elements of our recruitment process that they find challenging. This doesn’t negate their ability to do the role they have applied for, it just means that they may require some accommodations to ensure the process is fair for them. As such, we are currently reviewing our take-home task and competency interview stages.

We’re removing any barriers that prevent us from attracting and sourcing great people. As a business we want our team to be a true reflection of the society that we live in, and we know that goes beyond how we build our recruitment process.

If you have any thoughts on all of this, or would like to make any suggestions about our recruitment process, we’d love to hear from you.

In recent years, the recruitment world has become increasingly aware of how unconscious biases can influence their processes and practices. This has led to some brilliant work being done globally to eliminate bias. 

Fern brings together its retail and wholesale fibre businesses to accelerate UK fibre deployment

More from Cuckoo

Full Fibre (FTTP): Top 10 benefits

Giganet acquires Cuckoo in bid to shake up broadband market

Removing unconscious bias from recruitment

How fast can you go?