Hyperoptic Offers 1 Gbps Speeds, Says 'The Future Will Be Fiber'

LONDON - A new British ISP, Hyperoptic, is getting ready to launch 1 Gbps Internet download speeds over a fiber-to-the-building network – the fastest speeds in the U.K. and 10 times the speed of the nearest major competitor. Hyperoptic will roll out its service initially to large residential buildings and offices across the U.K.

The cofounders of Hyperoptic have challenged the U.K.'s big telecom players before. In 2005, Boris Ivanovic, the company's president, and Dana Pressman Tobak, its managing director, cofounded the ISP Be, which offered a then-revolutionary 24 Mbps and was sold to O2 just one and a half years later. Ivanovic also purchased the Swedish ISP BoStream Broadband in 2001 and launched 26 Mbps broadband, growing its customer base from 2,000 to 100,000 and its revenue from $1 million to $55 million in just three years.

Ivanovic says, "Pushing the boundaries of online connection speed is a passion of mine. Consumers, especially in the U.K., simply accept that their online connection is not as fast as the package they buy into. For the Hyperoptic team, this is not acceptable. We want to open people's minds to the future beyond broadband and enable them to connect, explore and be satisfied – our technology will not disappoint. From consumers simply wanting to download an HD movie at home to fanatical gamers wanting to experience cloud-based action in real time, Hyperoptic is for everyone, because where information is expected instantly, the future will be fiber."