There’s been plenty of noise from BT over the last couple of days regarding fibre broadband announcements – Cumbria, Surrey and Norfolk Councils have all provisionally agreed to deals with BT which would see FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) and FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) lines rolling out to the majority of homes and businesses.
All of these deals are pending approval from the EU regarding state aid competition rules; until BT and the councils are allowed to put pen to paper and seal the deals there’ll be no Broadband Rollout Roundup fanfare from us.
This regulatory roadblock hasn’t stopped BT from going about its business elsewhere though; three locations have been earmarked for future fibre rollout which will be taking place over the coming weeks.
Up in South Yorkshire, Digital Region has gone about its usual business of connecting more postcodes to its FTTC network.
Though it’s been another quiet week on the whole, here’s Broadband Rollout Roundup for the week ending 14/09/2012.
BT to connect 7,000 locations in Kidlington, Oxfordshire
The Oxfordshire village of Kidlington is in line to benefit from over 7,000 new FTTC fibre broadband connections which will be deployed over the coming weeks. This takes the total number of earmarked-for-fibre premises in Oxfordshire to 170,000.
Woolston, Southampton to get 19,000 fibre broadband connections from BT
Cabinets connected to the Woolston exchange in Southampton are due to benefit from over 19,000 new FTTC lines over the coming weeks and months which will boost download speeds in the area by up to 80Mbps.
This will take the total number of connected premises in Hampshire to over half a million – 550,000 – by the end of 2013.
Broadstairs to get 11,000 FTTC lines from BT
Broadstairs in Thanet, Kent, is in line to get 11,000 FTTC lines installed by BT over the coming weeks. The new lines which will connect homes and businesses in the area will provide faster speeds overall and hopefully tether Thanet to the mainland should the River Wantsum ever swell in sufficient size to turn the area into an island again.
Digital Region opens up FTTC for more postcodes
Digital Region in South Yorkshire is bringing FTTC to more postcodes across the region this week. Homes and businesses at the following locations will be able to order in fibre-based broadband from the likes of Ask4, Origin Broadband, LittleBigOne, Fluidata and Digital City Region:
Doncaster DN6 9JF
Barnsley S63 9LH, S70 1QZ
Rotherham S62 6NA, S62 6JJ
Sheffield S20 6RZ, S20 6RA, S11 9DQ
That’s all for Broadband Rollout Roundup this week folks. We’ll be back with more broadband rollout news and timetables next week.
