Another of Britain’s military of ‘altnet’ broadband infrastructure suppliers is to hunt further funding amid a tightening monetary squeeze on the business.
Sky News understands that AlixPartners and Houlihan Lokey, the restructuring corporations, have been enlisted to work on a possible recapitalisation of Airband Community Internet, which serves counties together with Devon, Shropshire and Oxfordshire.
City sources stated Airband had been engaged on financing choices for a number of weeks and was more likely to require a considerable injection of latest capital.
The firm is backed by Abrdn, the fund administration group, and Amber Infrastructure Group.
In November 2021 it introduced that it had secured a £100m debt facility, saying it could assist speed up Airband’s rollout to 600,000 premises by 2025.
Airband couldn’t be reached for touch upon Tuesday.
Its seek for new funding comes amid broader strains on the altnet sector.
Sky News revealed earlier this month that Broadway Partners, a rural community builder in Scotland and Wales, had been compelled to name in directors.
Broadway had set an bold goal of connecting 250,000 houses and companies by 2025, and insolvency practitioners at Teneo are actually operating a course of to promote its enterprise or belongings.
Other fibre community builders which have sought new funding or patrons in latest months embrace Trooli, one other mid-sized entrant.
The market is dominated by BT’s Openreach division, but additionally contains massive rivals resembling CityFibre Holdings.
Content Source: information.sky.com