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England, Scotland and Wales: Broadband Rollout Roundup: 20/07/2012

Broadband Rollout Roundup this week comes with our peppering of regular BT Openreach announcements plus a couple of very big ones – BT’s bagging of contracts in North Yorkshire and Wales.

Hyperoptic announced that piped 1Gbps fibre into the swank environs of City Nites’ Canary Wharf apartments in London – good timing what with the Olympics due to kick off. You could sit in your room and stream the entire thing in HD…

City Nites spoke of plans to connect its other London premises up to Hyperoptic’s lines and hinted at future rollout in other UK cities.

England, Scotland and Wales: Broadband Rollout Roundup: 20/07/2012

Away from the smoke and out into the sticks, we’re seeing more rural locales earmarked for fibre.

Virgin Media announced that its working on cabling up two villages in the north east and BT pledges to connect three villages in Essex that had been overlooked in its initial £2.5 billion plan.

Here’s this week’s Broadband Rollout Roundup in detail.


Edinburgh businesses and homes feel the fabric of BT’s fibre in Waverly

9,200 homes and businesses connected to the Waverly exchange in Edinburgh are benefitting from new fibre lines as BT’s major rollout continues. This will bring the total number of premises on Edinburgh connected to 57,500, which will rise to more than 141,000 in 2013.

Around Waverly FTTC offering download speeds of up to 80Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps. Will be rolled out alongside FTTP offering top download speeds of 330Mbps.

Waverly is also where BT will test its new FTTP on demand trial in September, where customers on FTTC lines will transition to full FTTP as the copper last mile is replaced. It’s expected that at some point in 2013, you’ll be able to order FTTP on demand if you can get FTTC at your home or business – basically paying for the last mile yourself.


6 BT exchanges now accepting orders for FTTC

FTTC 80Mbps broadband is now available to order in these locations from across the UK:

Hailsham (FTTC) Wealden District
Hythe (FTTC) New Forest District
Lewes (FTTC) Lewes District
Neston (FTTC) Ellesmere Port and Neston District (B)
Perth (FTTC) Perth and Kinross
Seaford (FTTC) Lewes District


BT beats Fujitsu in £70m North Yorkshire rural broadband competition

BT bagged the deal to roll out the UK’s first rural broadband scheme which will see 365,000 homes and businesses in North Yorkshire getting a mix of FTTC and FTTP links by the end of 2014.

This will see 90 per cent of the county covered by fibre, with the remaining 10 per cent getting up to 24Mbps broadband over ADSL2+.


BT-Wales fibre broadband deal to reach 96 per cent of homes and businesses

Several miles south of Yorkshire came announcements from BT and the Welsh Government; 96 per cent of the country will be connected to fibre by 2015.

Again, a mix of FTTC and FTTP lines will be on offer, providing top speeds of 80Mbps and 330Mbps respectively.

The £425 million contract will see the first homes and businesses getting connected in Spring 2013. BT has yet to confirm which areas will start seeing rollout first. This is in addition to parts of Wales where BT was already committed to fibre rollout.


The Only Way Is FTTC: Essex villages win extra BT fibre broadband

From the dales of Yorkshire to the towns and valleys of Wales to deepest darkest Essex; BT will also be bringing three Essex villages into the fibre fold.

Overlooked during the initial £2.5 billion fibre rollout plan, BT has worked with Tendring District Council to ensure that the villages of Kirby-le-Soken, Kirby Cross and Great Holland eventually get fibre.

Following negotiation, residents of these areas will be able to get fibre broadband once the Frinton, Manningtree and Wivenhoe exchanges come online.


Virgin Media to bring rural fibre broadband to Lincolnshire villages

Not content to let the likes of BT, exWavia and B4RN hog all the rural broadband glory, Virgin Media announced that it’s agreed to connect Habrough and Stallingborough in Lancashire to its fibre network.

Pending the green light from the local council, Virgin Media will roll out cable providing up to 120Mbps speeds to the villages. Currently, the speeds in Habrough and Stallingborough skirt around the 0.5Mbps mark.

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