LONDON -- Fibrespeed, the operator of an open access fibre network set to connect North Wales with high speed communications from Q1 2009, has signed up 9 service providers ahead of its official launch on 27 November.

This date signifies the market entrance of a project that is unique within the UK, and holds a special significance within the European Union as a whole. The £30m investment in fibre infrastructure, by the Welsh Assembly Government, the European Regional Development Fund and Geo Networks Ltd, allows competing commercial service providers to supply high speed broadband services to businesses in North Wales at very competitive market rates.

The first wave of Fibrespeed service providers are Advanced Information Systems (AIS), Carrier Wales, Data Cymru, Geo, Hostinguk.net, iData, Comms Management, Integratek and NetServe. Their profiles range from Carrier Wales, which is the Welsh presence of an established business with a strong customer base in the region, to entrepreneurial start-ups such as iData. All service providers are keen to participate from the earliest opportunity in a new and diverse retail communications market.

Mike Johnston, Project Director for Fibrespeed, commented: “The speed with which service providers have come on board reflects the extent of pent-up demand in the North Wales market. Businesses in the region are crying out for services such as high-speed data or unified communications, yet with wholesale prices as much as six times higher than the national average it has not been a cost-effective market for service providers to access.”

FibreSpeed Ltd.