Three fibre builders, three ownership models, one job: turn capital into a network customers stay on.
Gigaclear - scaling rural fibre under infrastructure ownership
Interim Technical Director on contract 2017–2018, then permanent CTO 2018–2021 · Rural FTTP · Majority PE, then Infracapital and Railpen
- Situation. A rural fibre builder moving from early-stage growth to institutional ownership, with a network to scale across multiple English counties.
- What I did. Led the technology, systems (OSS/BSS), IT, security and network teams through roughly £500M of investment, as Design Authority reporting to the CEO. Owned build-versus-buy decisions across the estate, improved the scalability and resilience of the aggregation and access networks, and supported a £400M+ debt raise with technical diligence and lender reporting. In more detail: £1.5M of owned Ciena DWDM capacity replaced leased circuits with payback inside five years; the core moved from a Layer 2 ring to MPLS routing out to every fibre cabinet; and network design tooling was developed in-house.
- Outcome. Network availability improved while operating cost fell year on year.
- Relevant to: interim CTO, technical due diligence, board advisory.
Airband: subsidised rural build in a founder-led business
Permanent CTO 2021–2023; returned on contract as adviser, late 2025 to mid 2026 · Rural fibre and fixed wireless · Founder-led, backed by abrdn and Amber
- Situation. A founder-led operator delivering publicly funded rural coverage with new institutional investors on board.
- What I did. Led the network, systems, security and service management teams through around £125M of investment. Set the technology roadmap and stabilised a network whose problems stemmed from its original build. In more detail: introduced XGS-PON on the fibre estate and 60GHz fixed wireless in dense areas, and fixed routing, provisioning and documentation gaps left by the build. Returned on contract in late 2025 as an adviser on network performance and customer satisfaction.
- Outcome. Higher network availability, and reorganised systems, network and service management teams. [Add a figure from the 2025–26 advisory work if you can cite one.]
- Relevant to: take-up and cost-to-serve review; BEAD-style subsidised builds.
MS3 Networks: open-access wholesale fibre
Interim CTO on contract 2023–2024, then permanent CTO 2024–2025 · Hull and surrounding area · ~92% owned by Asterion Industrial Partners
- Situation. A wholesale fibre network competing in one of the UK's most distinctive broadband markets, needing to win ISPs as well as end customers.
- What I did. Led the network, systems (OSS/BSS), software, IT and security teams for a 250k-premises network. Built the systems platform that opened it to national ISPs including TalkTalk (PXC) and Zen Internet, ran a core upgrade programme for scale and resilience, and delivered ISO27001 and Telecommunications Security Act compliance. In more detail: API-first ordering, provisioning and fault interfaces for wholesale partners, and a core upgraded to Nokia 7750 across three sites.
- Outcome. Revenue up 17x and customers up 15x in 24 months; first Hull operator listed on uSwitch; Best Overall Fibre Provider two years running.
- Relevant to: open-access and wholesale fibre operators, and the investors backing them.