A new broadband provider will be coming to Reading promising ‘half price’ internet to neighbours.

Grain Connect, or Grain for short, has announced a £200 million investment in a quest to provide internet to 400,000 properties to the UK.

Grain claims that it offers broadband at around half the price of the other broadband providers in the area, without charging for line rental, install costs or administration fees.

Additionally, Roland Barzegar CFO at Grain, said: “We recently introduced our Loyalty Price Promise, where at the end of their contract, we offer customers to renew on the same monthly price we advertise to new customers on their street, showing that once you take out a contract with Grain, you will always have access to great pricing and your loyalty won’t be exploited.

“This is especially important to us now, with customers being impacted by the rising cost of living.”

Grain has also pledged never to increase prices during a contract term or charge for post, packaging and set up costs.

However, the coming of Grain has sparked concern amongst councillors about roadworks that could cause traffic chaos.

The separate company CityFibre has been accused of causing traffic chaos in Caversham and poor communication with residents in Coley.

READ MORE: CityFibre grilled by councillors over traffic chaos in Reading

This summer, councillors questioned heads of both CityFibre and Grain  about their operations.

Peter Murphy, head of broadband operations at Grain, said: “We do target a certain demographic because we’re the cheapest ISP (internet service provider)  in the UK.

“So we offer the same speeds as everybody else but probably at half the price.

“We’re not the size of CityFibre, we’re not looking to cover the entirety of Reading.

“We’re probably looking at 10 to 20 phases, which is probably 10-20,000 properties.”

Mr Murphy added that the initial plan is to cover 6,000 properties in six phases.

Grain works in phases of 1,000 properties each, with work involving underground ‘trenching’ to provide properties with fibre connections.

Mr Murphy explained: “We keep our sites nice and small and tidy because we have to knock on the door afterwards and try and sell our product to the residents, so we care about not affecting communities that we’re working in because they are our target audience.”

READ MORE: CityFibre asked to explain what it will do to improve after causing 'traffic chaos' in Reading

There was still concern about roadworks and installations that overrun.

Mr Murphy said: “It’s very rare that we get overruns, we employ supervisors.

“Our customers are our lives, it’s very rare that we get overruns, we put all the planning up front.

“We’ve got employed supervisors and contract managers on site.

“It’s a lot smaller scale and a lot easier to manage.”

As for communications, Mr Murphy said Grain knocks on ‘every single door’ during phased 1,000 household work.

Additionally, leaflets which are posted have QR codes with work permits that are translated into 25 languages.

He said: “It’s critical residents know we’re coming.”

Although Grain has not rolled out yet, potential customers can register their interest on its website.

In September, internet packages are for sale at up to 30 per cent off in Reading, with prices starting at £17.99 per month for 100Mbps download and upload speed.

Potential customers can make use of the deal on the Grain website.

Mr Murphy was questioned by Reading Borough Council’s strategic environment, planning and transport committee on July 7.