Rolling out a UK national fibre network

Nine months. That’s all it took for AllPoints Fibre Networks to launch aquila, a national fibre aggregation platform with SwitchedOn Fibre™ at its heart.

The goal was ambitious: make fibre access in the UK simpler and faster for ISPs by replacing a patchwork of contracts and integrations with one digital marketplace. With aquila, service providers can now reach millions of premises across multiple networks through a single interface and a single contract.

This kind of change usually takes years. Together, APFN and Sonalake delivered the first release in just nine months by working as one team and building on a platform designed for speed, scale and adaptability.

As Ronan Kelly, Managing Director at AllPoints Fibre Networks, reflected:

“Decisions of this scale usually come with a lot of risk. In this case, it was one of the best calls we could have made, and we are so glad we did.”

The launch event in May at Royal Ascot captured the sense of momentum. Industry leaders watched live demos of quoting, ordering and orchestration that showed aquila in action, removing the friction that has slowed the fibre market for so long.

For Sonalake, it was a privilege to help make that moment possible, and even more so to continue building with APFN as aquila grows. Already connecting 20 million premises, the platform is expanding with new services, new partners and new ISPs, all driving towards a more open and competitive fibre market.

From the racecourse to the marketplace, fibre is moving faster than ever. See how aquila is leading the way and check our case study with further details.