TalkTalk is to pursue the rollout of ‘full fibre’ to more than three million UK homes and businesses.
The telco has agreed heads of terms with Infracapital, the infrastructure equity investment arm of M&G Prudential, for creation of an independent company with Infracapital that would be 80 per cent funded by Infracapital and 20 per cent by TalkTalk itself.
It builds on TalkTalk’s full fibre trial in York. The network currently reaches 14,000 homes and is in the process of being extended to 54,000. TalkTalk would be a founding wholesale customer and provide a minimum volume commitment.
Total investment is expected to be in the region of £1.5 billion.
Charles Dunstone, Executive Chairman of TalkTalk said: “It’s 12 months since I announced my intention to take a more active role in the management of TalkTalk. Since then, we have reset the business and returned it to quarter-on-quarter customer growth. By signing heads of terms with Infracapital we are making good progress towards putting TalkTalk at the heart of Britain’s fibre future by building a full fibre network, bringing faster, more reliable internet to millions of homes and businesses.”
Separately, TalkTalk has announced a £200 million equity placing.