KC facing competition as rival to start laying fibre-optic cables

Until now, all telephone and internet connections in Hull have had to go through KC’s network, either through services offered directly by the company or by alternative providers who use the KC system.

But next week, engineers working on behalf of MS3 Communications Ltd will begin laying a new network of fibre-optic cables that will for the first time offer thousands of customers a range of services that will be entirely independent of KC.

MS3 Communications, a company set up by Mediasat3 Ltd, has announced an initial investment of £3.6m that will see more than 30 miles of “next generation” cables installed, the first phase of a planned network of more than 70 miles.

It said it was not ready to reveal the names of its partners, but they are understood to include local businesses and at least three “global” telecoms providers.

The company said: “MS3 Communications will be providing a real and independent alternative telecommunications network to Kingston Communications to thousands of homes and businesses via Mediasat3 and our other resellers.

“This is a truly ground breaking project in Hull and has the potential to not only protect existing business competitiveness and jobs, but provide the reason to attract new business investment and employment opportunities into this area.”

The first cables are being laid on the south bank of the Humber by the Rotherham-based firm Eurocoms Group Limited. The network is expected to be operational within six months.

MS3 Communications claimed its network would allow companies to offer faster and cheaper broadband services to those currently provided by KC.

The quickest would be “fibre to fibre” services at 50 megabytes per second, with up to 20 megabytes per second for those going through the “local loop unbundling” (LLU) exchange.

Mike Harlington, network operations director at MS3 Communications, said: “We will be offering services at a tenth of the price. A broad range of people want to use the services. There’s a demand in the city to come away from KC and Karoo; we are offering something KC can’t do.”

He added: “We are very excited this is going to happen.”

City councillor John Robinson, whose portfolio includes telecommunications and connectivity, welcomed the announcement.

He said: “Telecommunications infrastructure and super-fast broadband is a huge priority for the city of Hull and it will take investment to make it happen. I would welcome any investment in the city that helps promote super-fast connectivity.

“People say it’s a difficult issue, but for me it’s quite simple – like other utilities like gas, electric and water, you’ve got to have it.”

Sean Royce, KC’s commercial and finance director, said: “During the last 18 months we’ve been in discussions with MediaSat3 about their plans to offer an alternative communications infrastructure in Hull.

“Over the same period we’ve also signed deals with a number of communications resellers in the region which have resulted in them being able to provide phone line rental, calls and broadband over our network to local businesses, offering a range of alternatives to KC.”

Hull is the only city in the country not served by BT’s infrastructure. Its relatively small market is believed to have deterred some providers.

Tony Hales, managing director of MS3 Communications, added: “We promised we would bring this network into Hull many months ago.

“In all this time we have been working hard to forge the right partnerships to make this happen, we didn’t want to be another company who promised change and then failed to deliver.”