Regular readers will have noted the absence of Broadband Rollout Roundup over the last few weeks, mainly because there’s been an absence of broadband rollout news.
That all changes this week at BT has kicked things off with a flurry of fibre broadband announcements. More and more locations are being connected to BT’s upgraded network which last week passed the 15 million mark.
BT’s own commercial rollout, which aims to connect two thirds of the UK to at least FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) broadband, is currently moving along at a jolly old clip; on average 200,000 new premises per week. BT is currently due to finish this job by Spring 2014, roughly nine months ahead of the original ‘by the end of 2014’ due date.
The fun won’t stop there however. BT is now in line to gobble up all of the BDUK contracts and so will be be charged with extending its network to parts of the UK where its own £2.5 billion investment won’t reach. This week for example we’ve seen BT handed the keys to Northumberland, where it’ll be setting up a 660 kilometer-long cable connection across the region. Work won’t start for a while yet and the due date on that project is January 2016. So there’s plenty of rollout fun for the future…
As always, with Rollout Roundup news, if you’re living in an area that’s connected to an upgraded BT exchange, be sure to check your postcode against the Sam Knows database – just because your exchange has been given the green light for FTTC, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to order FTTC.
Without further prevarication, here’s Rollout Roundup for the week ending April 20, 2013.
BT cables up 109,000 – where are the missing 91,000?!
Wisbech, Whittlesey and March are the latest Cambridgeshire locales to benefit from BT’s FTTC upgrades. More than 26,000 properties connected to these exchanges can now order in faster broadband.
Some 64,000 Nottingham folk are also benefiting from extra FTTC availability. Firms and families across Bulwell, Kirkby in Ashfield, Sandiacre and Sutton in Ashfield are able to get access next-gen services as of now.
Finally, 19,000 new locations in Weymouth have been primed for FTTC access, bringing BT’s grand rollout total for this week up to 109,000.
If this 200,000 a week figure is accurate, we have to ask, where are the other 91,000? Huh?
Superfast Cornwall Big Build hits Helston, Perranporth and Widemouth
Superfast Cornwall’s Big Build continues unabated, with 144,202 Cornish companies and residents now able to get hold of better broadband speeds.
The latest news on the Superfast Cornwall rollout front is that work has begun in six places, Helston, Looe, Perranporth, St. Merryn, Stoke Climsland and Widemouth.
Superfast coverage for these areas is currently as follows:
- Helston – 43 per cent
- Looe – 35 per cent
- Perranporth – 52 per cent
- St. Merryn – 16 per cent
- Stoke Climsland – 33 per cent
- Widemouth – 42 per cent
Anyone who spotted this tweet earlier in the week should note that Tintagel currently has zero superfast according to Superfast Cornwall data. Work on rollout in Tintagel however is due to start this month with a view to it being completed in June.
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