Hull telecoms company KC launches UK’s fastest fibre broadband service
KC announced on Friday that it is launching the UK’s fastest fibre broadband service, offering guaranteed download speeds of 350Mbps.
The Hull-based telecoms company, which only provides its services to residents in Hull and East Yorkshire, will be charging £99 per month for its new KC Lightstream 350 package, making it the fastest — but most expensive — residential broadband service in the country.
“The internet is already a key part of people’s everyday lives, and the amount we use and rely on it is only going to increase. That’s why we want our customers to have the best connected homes and businesses in the UK and why we’ve launched the UK’s fastest broadband service today,” said KC’s Nick Thompson.
“Right now, the number of customers who feel they need a 350Mbps service is probably limited to those who want to be at the cutting edge of broadband performance. But as customers increasingly live their lives online, and as more homes access the internet not just from PCs but from laptops, smartphones, games consoles and tablets, the need for faster speeds is increasing. Through our investment in fibre and our launch of KC Lightstream 350 we’re providing tomorrow’s broadband speeds, today.”
KC’s existing fibre packages, which offer speeds of up to 100Mbps, have yet to be installed in many parts of the region. The telecoms provider has been rolling out Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) broadband to properties since September 2011, reaching 8,000 to date with another 15,000 expected by the end of 2012 — all of which will have the option of signing up to the new 350Mbps service.
Customers signing up to the new service will not be charged a connection fee.
Previously known as Kingston Communications until a re-branding effort in 2010, KC often attracts criticism for being the only fixed line telecoms company in the city, making Hull the only place in the country where its residents do not have a choice of telephone and broadband provider.
KC has always denied that it stops other providers from supplying services in the area. Its website states: “The truth is we don’t stop other providers using our network to provide broadband. We couldn’t stop them even if we wanted to, because we’re regulated by Ofcom. But in the same way that we can’t stop other providers offering broadband services in Hull, we can’t force them to either.
“We do know it’s nothing to do with us charging them over the odds to use our network though, because we don’t. And it’s not because our network uses different cabling to BT either (another popular myth), because it doesn’t.”
