We have received a number of queries recently from residents concerned about delays in the roll-out of broadband provision in our villages.
Most queries related specifically to the development of broadband coverage in High Hesleden and Castle Eden but there were some relatively minor issues reported in other villages too.
We contacted the Digital Durham team at county hall to ask for an update from BT/Openreach on this matter and as you can see we received quite a lengthy, and somewhat technical, response which includes links to several alternative sources of information.
To avoid confusion over any of the technical terms used (and because we don't really understand them) we have published the response in full below.
We hope the information here is helpful, and we will update on progress as we receive it, but in the meantime please get in touch with us if you need any further clarification.
Dear Cllrs Crute & Pounder
Thank
you for your patience in waiting to hear back from me. Apologies this is
quite a long email, but I’d prefer to give you as much information as I can to
support you and your residents.
Cabinets
I’ve
had a look across the ward. There’s ten cabinets covering your ward and fibre
broadband is available from eight of them – the remaining two cabinets are
linked to the Wellfield exchange: cabinet 8 covers Castle Eden and 9 covers
Hesleden. Unfortunately as they are being upgraded under BT’s commercial
programme they aren’t at liberty to provide us with any information.
However,
the Openreach site (http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/)
takes you through the cabinet process.
I’ve
selected a random postcode in the area that’s attached to cabinet 8, and it
appears that cabinet 8 is progressing with the message ‘typically it'll be available to your premises within the next four months.’
Interested residents can register with Openreach and they’ll notify them when
it goes live: http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/expression-gen.aspx
Cabinet 9 gets the message ‘You're in a fibre plan and we're
looking at the existing network in your area to see how we will design the
upgrade. You can't order a fibre service today but typically it'll be available
to your premises within the next 12 months.’ This may be too long for some
residents to wait – please see the ‘Possible alternatives to fibre broadband’
section below.
High Hesleden
As I understand it, the other area you’ve also had queries
from is High Hesleden.
It
looks like the area has not been picked up in phase two. With only a limited
amount of funding available, not every property that doesn’t have access to
fibre broadband could be upgraded.
However,
we have managed to obtain additional funds and plans are being made for phase
three. Due to the high levels of interest from residents for fibre broadband
service under phase one, we recently recouped funding from BT and this, combined with project management savings, will be reinvested in extending
coverage further again.
Openreach
are ‘modelling’ phase three now and we have asked them to look at High Hesleden
as a priority. Details of this are estimated to be available in March. I have
made a note to drop you a line once we know more. I’ve mentioned some
alternatives below – it looks like both satellite and 4G may be available to
the area.
Possible
alternatives to fibre broadband
Residents
may wish to consider looking into other alternative technologies to fibre
broadband that can provide access to online services. I’ve provided an overview
of satellite and 4G below.
Satellite broadband scheme
Satellite
broadband offers download speeds of up to 22Mbps now. The main advantage is
that it can be provided virtually anywhere in the world, as long as you have a
clear line of sight to the south generally. Costs for satellite broadband start
at around £10 per month and increase depending on the amount of data you want
to use. A satellite dish and modem will also need to be installed which start
at a few hundred pounds.
Following
the Government’s committment to provide access to a minimum of 2 megabits per
second (Mbps) download speeds, a satellite broadband subsidy scheme has very
recently launched to help eligible residents. The scheme allows residents to
apply for up to £350 towards the hardware and installation costs to get
connected to satellite broadband. Eligible residents will still be required to
pay any subsequent costs such as the monthly service charge. More information
about the scheme and eligibility is available on our website: http://www.digitaldurham.org/basic-broadband/
4G broadband coverage
Mobile
broadband can vary from place to place and from network to network. Several
providers have extended their 4G mobile coverage significantly in the UK over
the past year, and with average speeds of 15Mbps (Ofcom 2014), it may be worth
checking to see if it’s available.
Ofcom
have an online checker that you can use – make sure to click on ‘4G Data’ and
‘Indoor’ under the ‘Select signal type’ and ‘Select location’ options when you
check the coverage for each network: www.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage
