In the latest instalment of Fibrenews’ Ask Anything series, Jonny Rae interviews John Balfour-Lynn, Account Director, of Gigabritain to discuss their popular London product, wireless ethernet.
Jonny Rae: You came into the GigaBritain family because of the Luminet acquisition. How long have you been with Luminet?
John Balfour-Lynn: Nearly ten years now.
Jonny Rae: And you have been pushing this unique wireless proposition, which now sits under the GigaBritain brand, for a long time, right?
John Balfour-Lynn: That’s right. I’ve been working with both partners and directly for the last ten years, providing up to 10GB wireless across London.
Jonny Rae: And how many partners have you been working with over that time? How many partners are utilizing the wireless product within the City of London?
John Balfour-Lynn: We’ve got about 200 partners, with around 60 actively engaged at any one time. Mainly, they are involved in office moves where there’s a need to install connectivity quickly for tenants moving into properties where fibre may be difficult to install or stuck in a wayleave situation.
Jonny Rae: And what has Luminet specialised in? Do you provide voice services for partners too?
John Balfour-Lynn: No, we’re purely a connectivity provider, specializing in delivering connectivity quickly. We handle a lot of events like Ride London, the London Marathon, the Queen’s Jubilee, the Coronation, and even the funeral. We also provide short-term connectivity for clients waiting for fibre installations, allowing them to move into an office without connectivity delays. Our wireless solutions also offer long-term resilience as a backup to fibre with our 100% SLA, active-passive scalable solution.
Jonny Rae: What percentage of partners or direct customers keep the wireless solution as a redundancy package?
John Balfour-Lynn: When fibre arrives, customers often have the choice to keep the wireless solution as a backup. After using it, they realize its reliability and keep it for diversity alongside fibre. This active-passive failover operates on the same static IP range, ensuring seamless service if the fibre goes down.
Jonny Rae: Is it an automatic changeover if the fibre goes down?
John Balfour-Lynn: Yes, it’s a completely automatic failover on the same static IP. It’s all managed in our core, switching seamlessly from fibre to wireless within seconds of detecting an outage, and switching back when fibre is restored.
Jonny Rae: What’s the biggest benefit partners see in the wireless proposition?
John Balfour-Lynn: The biggest benefit is fast deployment. For example, in construction sites without a postcode where fibre isn’t available, we can set up wireless quickly, even for short projects lasting up to six months. We also offer two wireless solutions, including a light 100mbps option, ideal for SMEs and smaller construction sites, with a very competitive price point for partners.
Jonny Rae: What about people who might say, “I’ll just use a 4G router”?
John Balfour-Lynn: The problem with 4G in London is the inconsistency—it’s unreliable, with speeds fluctuating and no guaranteed service level. Often, during office hours in central London, the networks are overloaded, making 4G ineffective.
Jonny Rae: If someone’s getting 1GB of wireless, what’s the contention ratio? Is it similar to Ethernet, or is it shared?
John Balfour-Lynn: On our multipoint Light product, it’s shared, with average latency around 35 milliseconds. However, our Pro product is a dedicated, uncontended solution up to 10GB, with latency typically between 1 to 3 milliseconds, which is actually faster than fibre.
Jonny Rae: How does that work?
John Balfour-Lynn: It’s due to the point-to-point nature of the wireless link—it’s a direct beam between two dishes, unlike fibre, which has to navigate through various routes underground before reaching the exchange.
Jonny Rae: Some partners might worry about wireless reliability. How does your product differ from satellite or 4G?
John Balfour-Lynn: Unlike satellite or mobile wireless, our solution is dedicated and point-to-point, providing symmetrical speeds. It’s highly reliable, with a 99.95% SLA and, uniquely in London, a full one-hour fix time. This is achievable because if there’s an issue, it’s often just a matter of realigning the dish or swapping it out.
Jonny Rae: Do you have 24/7 access to rooftops where your equipment is installed?
John Balfour-Lynn: We have access during working hours, taking health and safety into account. If we can access the roof, we can fix the dish promptly.
Jonny Rae: And what are the product offerings? The Light is 100mbps?
John Balfour-Lynn: Yes, 100mbps on the Light, and up to 10GB on the Pro service.
Jonny Rae: Could you offer a 100GB wireless service?
John Balfour-Lynn: Not with wireless, but we do provide fibre. For example, we might offer a large serviced office a 10GB fibre connection and a 5GB wireless backup, ensuring high availability with dedicated hardware for failover between the routers or switches.
Jonny Rae: Have you ever had to save the day for a client in an emergency?
John Balfour-Lynn: Absolutely. We’ve stepped in when fibre has been damaged, such as when a duct collapsed in Fleet Street, taking down a serviced office with 300 companies. We installed a wireless solution the next day, restoring connectivity until the fibre was fixed.
Jonny Rae: What does the service look like on the customer’s side?
John Balfour-Lynn: The customer receives a switch or router endpoint that connects to their LAN. From their perspective, it’s just a normal internet connection.
Jonny Rae: Do tenants need landlord permission to install your equipment?
John Balfour-Lynn: Yes, we need landlord approval to install the 30cm dish on the roof. It’s a straightforward process without the need for wayleaves or planning permission, making it much quicker and simpler.
Jonny Rae: Do you ever get bored talking about wireless?
John Balfour-Lynn: Never!
