# Backhaul for Altnets: What to Ask a Provider

An alternative network provider builds its own access, whether fibre to the street or wireless masts on rooftops. That access ends short of the core, and the backhaul that carries it the rest of the way decides how well the whole network performs. These are the questions worth putting to any backhaul provider, including us.

By Chris Byrd

26 October 2026

[ISP & Network Operators](https://netavo.com/insights)

## What backhaul does for an altnet

Altnets, the alternative network providers building their own fibre and wireless access alongside the national networks, share one problem: their subscribers are reached locally, but their core, their transit and the rest of the internet are somewhere else. Backhaul is the carriage between the two. It takes traffic from exchanges, cabinets and masts to the operator's core location, and joins the operator's own sites and datacentres together.

Because every subscriber's traffic crosses it, backhaul is not a commodity to be bought on price alone. A congested or poorly routed link affects every customer behind it at once, and a backhaul outage is a network outage.

## The questions that separate providers

| Question | Why it matters | What a good answer looks like |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Where do you hand over? | The handover has to be where your core is, or where you can reach it cheaply | Carrier-neutral datacentres where the UK's networks meet, named in advance |
| What port speeds are available? | The port sets the ceiling for growth without a new install | A clear step from one speed to the next as demand grows |
| Is the service designed around my network? | A standard product may not match where your access actually ends | Destinations, capacity and handover agreed with your engineers |
| Who carries the traffic? | A reseller cannot change routing or capacity itself | A provider running its own core network |
| Can you also provide transit and addresses? | One interconnect for backhaul, transit and addressing is simpler to run | Transit over IPv4 and IPv6 with BGP, and address space if you have none |
| Who answers when something breaks? | Backhaul faults affect every subscriber at once | Direct access to the engineers who operate the network |

## Size for the busy hour and for a failure

Backhaul capacity is set by the evening peak, not the daily average, and by the headroom needed when a parallel path fails. Ask how quickly capacity can be stepped up, because an upgrade has to be ordered before the link is full. Our guide to [when an ISP should upgrade its backhaul](https://netavo.com/insights/isp-backhaul-capacity) works through the calculation.

Resilience needs the same care. Two backhaul links that share a duct, a building entry or a datacentre can fail together, whatever their product names. Ask where each path runs and where it lands; [two circuits, one point of failure](https://netavo.com/insights/diverse-connectivity) covers what to check.

## Think past the pipe

Backhaul delivers traffic to the core; the operator still has to terminate its subscribers, address them and route them to the internet. An altnet growing quickly often finds that its address space, its subscriber gateway and its transit need attention at the same time as its backhaul.

It is worth asking whether one provider can cover more of that boundary, so that fewer interconnects, contracts and fault paths sit between subscribers and the internet. Our guides on [IP transit, peering and your own IP space](https://netavo.com/insights/ip-transit-and-peering) and [CGNAT for a growing ISP](https://netavo.com/insights/cgnat-for-isps) cover the next decisions.

## How Netavo answers these questions

| Question | Netavo |
| --- | --- |
| Handover | Telehouse North and Telehouse East in London, and Pulsant Manchester |
| Port speeds | 1G, 10G and 100G |
| Design | Destinations, capacity, addressing and handover agreed with your engineers around your own network |
| Network | Our own core network, AS208802, a LINX member peering on LON1 and LON2 |
| Transit and addressing | IP transit over IPv4 and IPv6 with BGP; IPv4 and IPv6 address space for operators without their own |
| Subscriber termination | Netavo BNG, with CGNAT included |
| Support | Continuous monitoring, proactive fault management and direct access to the engineering team |

## Common questions

### What is an altnet?

An altnet, or alternative network provider, builds its own fibre or wireless access alongside the national networks. Netavo provides altnets with backhaul, IP transit, addressing and Netavo BNG.

### What backhaul does Netavo provide for altnets?

Netavo carries traffic from exchanges and access networks to an altnet's core, and between its own sites and datacentres, on its own core network, designed around the network the altnet has built.

### Where does Netavo hand over backhaul?

Netavo hands over backhaul and transit at Telehouse North and Telehouse East in London, and at Pulsant Manchester, on 1G, 10G or 100G ports.

### Can Netavo provide IP transit and addresses as well as backhaul?

Yes. Netavo provides IP transit over IPv4 and IPv6 with BGP, and IPv4 and IPv6 address space for operators that have none of their own.

## Related services and sectors

### [ISP Network Services](https://netavo.com/services/isp)

IP transit, backhaul and L2TP broadband for internet service providers and network operators.

### [ISP BNG & CGNAT Systems](https://netavo.com/services/bng)

Netavo BNG, a carrier-grade x86-based BNG and CGNAT platform for internet service providers.

### [ISPs & Network Operators](https://netavo.com/sectors/isps-and-network-operators)

Wholesale broadband, transit, backhaul and addressing for UK ISPs and altnets, with Netavo BNG software for subscriber termination and CGNAT.

## Discuss backhaul for your network

Tell us where your access network ends, where your core is and the capacity you need. An engineer will respond with a recommended design and partner pricing.

[Work with us](https://netavo.com/work-with-us)

Chris Byrd

CTO, Netavo Global Data Services Ltd

Chris leads Netavo's engineering: the AS208802 network, its broadband and BNG platforms, and the mobile core behind its IoT SIMs.

[Chris Byrd on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbyrd)

Source: https://netavo.com/insights/altnet-backhaul