Zen Internet and ITS Technology Group announce reciprocal partnership - Daren Baythorpe, CEO of ITS

With the ink still drying on our contract, I speak with Daren Baythorpe, CEO of ITS Technology Group, about our reciprocal partnership. We’re very excited to soon be selling ITS’s B2B network products in both our direct business and through our channel partners via our Fibre Hub API & portal. The ITS network covers nearly 500k business premises, which is about a quarter of all UK business premises. Daren talks about the benefits of having Zen as a wholesale customer, and also about the benefits to ITS of becoming a Zen Partner.

After announcing our partnership, I find out more about ITS, including:
ITS’s unusual, but very successful, B2B business model – an Alt-Net that doesn’t do FTTP broadband
Fibre Bright (leased lines) and Fibre Light (Ethernet over FTTP / EoFTTP)
Why ITS is wholesale-only, after trying direct sales very early on
Daren’s thoughts on Partner and Alt-Net consolidation
ITS’s market penetration target of 13%-15% within 5 years
UK’s first 50 Gbps XGS-PON trial & ambition to launch next year
ITS’s journey to EBITDA positive and profitability + thoughts about the wider industry
UK Fibre Connectivity Forum & how effective UK government has been in promoting full fibre
Contrasting Daren’s time at Openreach with his time at ITS

Big thanks Daren, and the teams at ITS and Zen, for making our reciprocal partnership a reality.

CHAPTERS

0:00 – Zen and ITS announce partnership
0:56 – Why ITS joined Zen’s Partner Programme
2:17 – B2B Fibre on Demand business model
4:43 – Excess Construction Charges (ECCs)
6:36 – Fibre Bright and Fibre Light
9:59 – Will Zen sell more Fibre Light than Fibre Bright?
10:50 – Will ITS sell FTTP broadband in future?
13:01 – Why wholesale-only?
15:17 – How many channel partners?
16:39 – Public sector
17:25 – Consolidation in partner channel
19:10 – Alt-Net consolidation
20:45 – Network growth ambition
23:28 – 13%-15% market penetration within 5 years
24:55 – 50Gbps XGS-PON
28:32 – ITS’s journey to financial sustainability
31:27 – Wider look at Alt-Net financing
34:02 – UK Fibre Connectivity Forum
37:28 – Contrasting Openreach with ITS