giffgaff is connecting more homes with affordable broadband – and backing nature restoration too

On the Eastern Moors of the Peak District, a small plant is doing some important work.

You might not have heard of sphagnum moss. But this humble plant locks away carbon and holds water like a sponge – and in the fight against global heating, it’s been doing some disproportionately heavy lifting.

Right now, it’s also at the centre of giffgaff’s plans to do broadband differently.

The connectivity network – which now has over four million members – rolled out its initial broadband offering last September, and is already available to 2.8 million homes across the UK.

Alongside that expansion, giffgaff has made a commitment that’s less typical for an internet service provider: a multi-year investment in restoring moorland in the Peak District National Park, close to the towns where many of its new broadband members live.

In partnership with Ecologi, the company is putting £250,000 into the project by the end of 2026, restoring eight hectares of blanket bog through sphagnum moss planting.

It is, as giffgaff’s Broadband Product Director Natalie Cutten puts it, about “giving back to the communities that first welcomed our broadband service.”

“Our work to plant sphagnum moss across this site will help to strengthen nature’s own defences by locking away carbon, slowing water flow to reduce downstream flood risk, increasing wildfire resilience and rebuilding habitats for moorland wildlife like the bilberry bumblebee and the green hairstreak butterfly,” Natalie tells Big Issue. “A lot of impact from a little plant!”

The giffgaff project is a specific site that members are invited to visit, volunteer at, and take part in helping to shape the future of this important landscape.

“giffgaff members will be invited onto the land itself to visit, volunteer, and help tell the story,” Natalie says, “ensuring the project is not just enabled by members, but shaped with them too.”

Where is giffgaff broadband?

giffgaff launched its broadband service last year. Cities with the highest coverage currently include Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Coventry, Stoke-on-Trent, Cardiff, Manchester and Reading, with more streets being added through 2026.

For those not yet covered, giffgaff allows you to register your interest at giffgaff.com/broadband and will be in touch when your area goes live.

The offer itself is intentionally simple. Three speed options, on either a monthly rolling or 24-month fixed plan, with no mid-contract price rises and no complex bundles. Prices are the same for everyone – whether you’re a brand new customer or have been a giffgaff member for years.

It’s not typical for the telco sector, where the small print tends to do a lot of work.

“When giffgaff launched in 2009, we set out to do things differently – to show that a mobile network could serve people better by being fairer, more flexible, and rooted in community,” Natalie says. “So we’re bringing our commitment to fairness, flexibility, and working hand in hand with our members, to rewrite the rules of broadband.”

Building broadband differently

That frustration with the status quo ran through the feedback giffgaff gathered before building the product.

“We learnt from members that they’re fed up with the unfair rules of the broadband industry and felt ripped off by their providers,” Natalie says. “Consumers told us they felt overwhelmed by the bundles and packages offered by other ISPs. Instead, we offer three simple speeds to choose from, no complex bundles or costly extras.”

Before launch, giffgaff recruited 500 trialists to work directly with its product team. Over 90% said they’d recommend giffgaff broadband to friends and family.

Changing how we think about nature

The Peak District project is doing vital work – but the scale of the challenge is considerable. Some 80% of Peak District peatland is damaged. Peatlands are the UK’s largest carbon store; in the Peak District alone, 20 million tonnes of carbon sits locked in the peat.

Healthy peatbogs store more carbon than they release, making them vital carbon sinks. Degraded ones do the opposite.

Restoring them is careful, hands-on work, but the environmental returns are significant and lasting, particularly as dry summers make wildfire risk an increasingly urgent concern.

giffgaff members who live close to the Peak District can help with this, visiting the restoration site itself and volunteering.

But the company’s wider sustainability work will ensure that even those further away can engage with these beautiful, threatened landscapes.

As a launch partner of Wild Spaces, a cinema initiative from Pearl & Dean, giffgaff is also helping to bring the story of the UK’s national parks to new audiences – introducing cinema-goers to the role these landscapes play in climate and biodiversity.

And through Media in Service of Nature – a movement co-founded by giffgaff and media agency MG OMD – the company is part of a broader attempt to change how environmental restoration gets funded.

A small fraction of advertising spend – typically around 1% – is channelled via Ecologi into verified nature recovery projects across the UK.

Brands, agencies and media owners participate collectively, turning standard marketing and campaign costs into a funding stream for nature restoration. The fund also aligns with and supports the UK’s 30×30 commitment – a government-backed target to protect and effectively manage 30% of UK land and sea for nature by 2030. The ambition is to raise £200 million by that deadline.

Getting connected

As the work on the moors continues, more homes are getting connected.

Getting set up is straightforward: check your address at giffgaff.com/broadband, choose a speed and plan, and an engineer will come to connect the fibre – typically within a couple of weeks.

The router is managed through a simple app, with parental controls, ad blocking and content filtering built in.

“Broadband rollout and environment restoration can go hand in hand,” says Natalie. “In addition to building better broadband, giffgaff is also committed to making a positive impact for people and the planet.

“It’s part of our commitment to protect the communities we serve and the natural ecosystems that we all rely on.”

To learn more, visit: giffgaff.com/broadband