TAL, the holding company for Home Telecom, Fleur Telecom, and Eclipse Broadband, announced that it has agreed to purchase the CityFibre residential customer base from Gigabit Networks Ltd.

Gigabit has been doing very well in the wholesale space, operating a multi-network connectivity offering, servicing resellers & MSPs, along with a consumer wholesale option, on an “out of the box” layer three model. While they have built a reasonable residential base over the last few years, they have now made a strategic decision to focus entirely on their wholesale offering.

It makes sense. We often see wholesalers servicing the channel, MSPs, and consumer brands, but it doesn’t always mix well to have a brand going to market directly. A decision often needs to be made: split the brands or sell one. So this deal presents an opportunity for Gigabit to focus on what they do best: provide a resilient, scalable network to partners across the country on multiple networks.

Of course, for Gigabit, it made even more sense to strike a deal with TAL. Being the leaders in acquisitions for the past eighteen months is one element, but another is the relationship between the two founders (David Yates of Gigabit & Nigel Barnett of TAL). With Nigel having done business with David’s family many moons ago, the two have always been in touch.

TAL will gain circa 2000 residential customers and enhance its relationship with CityFibre and TalkTalk. As previously reported, TAL also added EZE Residential’s 2800 customers and a further 2600 customers through organic growth in May.

As we’ve seen in previous customer base takeovers, TAL will honour all prices and current terms that customers originally signed up for.

Nigel Barnett, CEO, commented: “David Yates, CEO, Gigabit Networks, and I have both been in this industry for years and over that time had a great relationship and done a lot of business between us and his family. He is not alone in his decision to withdraw from the residential space as it seems so simple to add customers but has become very competitive and expensive.”

David Yates, CEO, commented: “We’ve built a very solid infrastructure aggregating multiple fibre networks across the UK and delivering quality connectivity to businesses, wholesale partners, and consumers. The consumer business has become secondary to our channel and Wholesale ISP offering, so seeing what Nigel has done with TAL over the last 4 years means it makes great sense to partner with him on the residential base. I’m really looking forward to working with TAL to grow the residential side, allowing us to focus on our channel and wholesale partnerships.”