BT and Lincolnshire County Council have signed a £48 million deal which will see 88 per cent of the county able to access superfast broadband by April 2016.
The plan will see BT rolling out faster connections using FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) technology which can deliver download speeds of up to 80Mbps.
Those in the remaining 12 per cent of Lincolnshire will be guaranteed speeds of 2Mbps by 2016 – this will be delivered either via bonded DSL lines or via satellite broadband.
Read Recombu Digital’s report on Fibre Broadband and BDUK
Councillor Kelly Smith, Executive Member for Finance and HR, said: “The internet is transforming our lives – at home, at work and at school. And thanks to this investment by local councils, BT and national government, everyone will be able to reap the benefits offered by digital technology..”
The local council is paying £11.2 million into the scheme with district authorities contributing £4 million. BT itself is bringing £18.8 million to the table. BDUK (Broadband Delivery for the UK) which has stumped up £14.3 million, defines superfast broadband as a service delivering speeds of at least 25Mbps.
FTTC will be able to deliver these speeds in most areas but as with ADSL broadband there is a distance difference which sees speeds suffering the further away you are from a fibre-connected street cabinet. In Cornwall, we’ve seen that the speeds achieved on FTTC lines to average at 30-65Mbps.
BT has already connected some homes and businesses in Lincoln to fibre broadband. Already, some premises connected to the Lincoln exchange can order in FTTC and the faster FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) broadband.
Bill Murphy, managing director for Next Generation Access BT, said: “We’re already seeing the positive impact faster fibre broadband is having on businesses and residents in the county and now, thanks to this partnership, the benefits will be felt much wider, helping boost the local economy.”
By 2016, BT’s FTTP On Demand programme will be live, letting customers on FTTC lines upgrade to the faster FTTP product, promising download speeds of up to 330Mbps. Initial figures however suggest that this’ll be a pricey endeavour, way beyond the wallets of most UK households. Hopefully by then prices may have started to come down so that FTTP On Demand can be an affordable reality for everyone.
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