George Soros pumps £50m into fibre-gobbling ISP Hyperoptic

Hyperoptic - a relatively new player in the UK's ISP market - confirmed today that it had received a massive cash injection of £50m from investors to help the company expand its fibre-to-the-home business.

The telco, which currently offers 1 Gbit/s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technology to Londoners, was founded in 2010 by Boris Ivanovic and Dana Tobak - the people behind Be Unlimited.

The multi-million pound cash injection was dropped into Hyperoptic's piggy bank today by Quantum Strategic Partners, an investment outfit managed by Soros Fund Management LLC - biz magnate George Soros's investment vehicle - which aims "to deliver true hyperfast broadband across the UK".

Tobak told your correspondent in June 2012 that her company planned to bring its network to more cities across the UK. At the time, Hyperoptic's MD said she expected to see a full rollout this year, without revealing which cities the company would be targeting.

With the necessary investment now secured, Hyperoptic said today that it hoped to reach more than 500,000 homes with its fibre network by 2018.

Tobak told The Register last year that, by the end of 2017, the ISP wanted to be in 2,500 buildings across the UK.

Hyperoptic said it has deployed its technology to 20,000 homes in London to date. In a canned statement the company said:

The company now aims to bring its ground-breaking FTTH technology to as many as ten additional UK cities by the end of the year, with locations for these ‘hypercities’ to be prioritised based on consumer demand.

Hyperoptic is also planning to offer its FTTH tech to business and commercial premises. ®