Fibrus, a Belfast-based fibre broadband provider, has secured an additional GBP 100 million tranche of senior debt, ensuring full funding for its rural roll-out plans across Northern Ireland and Cumbria. This is an increase to an existing GBP 200 million senior debt facility and GBP 20 million revolving credit facility. With this new financing, the company’s total debt and equity funding has increased to GBP 845 million, enabling it to reach half a million homes over the next two years, Fibrus said.
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Progress in Northern Ireland and Cumbria
The debt facility, supported by lenders including UKIB, ING, LBBW, ABN Amro, NatWest, and Sabadell, complements existing equity funding and government support.
Fibrus stated that it has already connected 315,000 homes in Northern Ireland, with 245,000 connected through a commercially funded build programme and 70,000 via the government-funded Project Stratum.
In Cumbria, Fibrus has brought broadband to over 60,000 homes, with plans to expand to nearly 170,000 homes within two years. The company noted the rapid adoption of Fibrus services, particularly in Cumbria, where the penetration rate exceeded 30 percent shortly after launch.
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Fibrus’s Infrastructure Growth
Fibrus reported that it has quickly become a leading fibre provider in its service areas, achieving a penetration rate of 23 percent with 90,000 connected customers as of July. Fibrus has laid over 17,000 kilometres of fibre to connect homes across Northern Ireland and Cumbria.