Airband, broadband provider for rural homes and businesses across the West of England, has closed a £100 million debt package from a number of international banks.

The debt facility, provided by HSBC, Lloyds, Nord LB, and Sabadell, enables the company to accelerate its rollout plan to service 600,000 premises with full fibre broadband by 2025.

The rollout of Airband’s full fibre broadband services will cover over 10,000km of fibre in a bid to close the digital divide seen across the UK between urban and rural communities.

“We created Airband in 2009 to supply rural areas with the high-quality internet they deserve,” said Redmond Peel, Airband’s founder. “The pandemic has increasingly highlighted the deficit some communities in the UK face when it comes to services that those living in urban areas take for granted.

“Access to reliable and fast broadband that is fit for modern day lives – from home education and online grocery shopping during the lockdown through to the digitisation of many services, such as banking and streaming entertainment – can no longer be considered a luxury, but rather a basic utility.”

Share Story: