BT Broadband Rollout Updates

What’s happening with BT Broadband Rollout Updates? 

BT plans to connect two-thirds of the UK to superfast FTTC broadband by Spring 2014, with a number of locations getting faster FTTP broadband. In time, BT will launch a programme whereby people can upgrade their FTTC lines to faster FTTP, providing faster download speeds of 330Mbps and eventually 1Gbps.

The UK’s communications infrastructure has left isolated pockets of the country – most of them rural – where broadband isn’t accessible over BT’s old phone lines.

Latest BT Broadband Rollout UpdatesOut of date technology, aluminium wiring instead of copper and long distances from exchanges mean that broadband services simply aren’t possible over the phone lines like they are elsewhere in the UK.

This is the UK’s ‘Digital Divide’, which has seen those in the countryside unable to get anything faster than 1Mbps, while those in the big cities can enjoy faster ADSL broadband and in some places fibre broadband up to 1Gbps in speed.

While more than 60 per cent of the country will benefit, the remaining third will be left out of the upgrades. This is where Rural Broadband services and providers are stepping in connecting the rest of the UK to broadband.

Check out our in-depth feature on Rural Broadband for a comprehensive list of rural UK ISPs and projects and our feature on What is BT Openreach? for the history on BT’s role in creating the UK’s next-gen networks.

Latest BT Broadband Rollout Updates

• West Yorkshire group Fibre Valley calls for superfast broadband inclusion
• Liverpool and Merseyside councils sign superfast broadband deal with BT
• Superfast broadband plan for Berkshire announced: BT to connect 91 per cent of premises
• BT deal marches superfast broadband into over 90 per cent of Yorkshire East Riding
• BT signs Superfast West Yorkshire fibre broadband deal
• BT signs superfast broadband deal with Leicestershire
• BT announces Oxfordshire and Worcestershire superfast broadband deals
• BT’s superfast broadband rollout adds 9 more exchanges
• BT endorsed by Dorset County Council for superfast broadband project
• BT and Digital Scotland unveil superfast fibre broadband plans
• BT to connect Herts and Bucks to superfast broadband
• Cumbria begins superfast Broadband rollout
• Norfolk villages to get faster broadband ahead of schedule
• BT to bring superfast broadband to Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent
• BT can finally start work on superfast broadband in Cumbria, says EU
• BT trousers £56k for fibre broadband upgrade from Oxfordshire villagers
• Superfast BT fibre in range of 15 million UK homes from 60 ISPs
• BT secures deal to provide superfast broadband to Hampshire
• BT superfast broadband coming to Lincolnshire in £48 million deal
• Early superfast broadband upgrades for Suffolk will start in 2014
• BT pledges to bring superfast broadband to 98 per cent of Cambridgeshire
• BT fibre broadband boosts for Surrey and North East England
• BT Broadband bringing 20Mbps speeds to 92 per cent of the UK
• Two thirds of UK will have fibre by Spring 2014
• Northamptonshire wants 100 per cent fibre by 2017
• Superfast fibre for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
• BT fibre for over 90 per cent of South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
• Fibre-only Deddington lights up for 330Mbps
• BT fibre broadband coming to rural Oxfordshire village of Islip
• BT bringing Fibre Broadband to 80 per cent of Norfolk
• BT given permission to begin work in Cumbria
• BT to bring fibre to 88 per cent Herefordshire and Gloucestershire
• 19 million locations to be connected by Spring 2014
• 170,000 North Yorkshire homes and businesses to get FTTC by 2013
• EU approval greenlights BT superfast work
• Openreach to cut fibre install fees but will customers benefit?
• Suffolk County Council picks BT for next-gen broadband rollout
• BT to bring fibre to 12 million UK homes and businesses in 2013
• BT to bring FTTC to 49 per cent of Norfolk
• 93 per cent of Cumbria to get superfast broadband from BT
• BT to bring fibre broadband to nearly 100 per cent of Surrey
• BT picked to bring next-gen broadband to 96 per cent of Wales

Two thirds of UK will have fibre by Spring 2014

BT has announced that it plans to have finished its job to connect two-thirds of the UK to fibre-based broadband by the end of Spring 2014.

Next Spring, Openreach will upgrade 99 new exchanges, the majority of which are located in Scotland, the Midlands, the North East and the North West of England. These upgrades will see fibre broadband (a mixture of FTTC and FTTP) being pushed out to 600,000 premises in these areas.

This would see BT finishing its two-thirds job, which is costing the company £2.5 billion, 18 months earlier than planned.

Note that the work doesn’t stop there as BT is also tasked with completing rollout of high speed fibre broadband to the majority of the UK’s counties. Last week it was announced that Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough had given BT contracts to connect over 90 per cent of properties to next-gen broadband.

Currently, 13 million locations can access faster broadband thanks to BT. By the end of the two-thirds rollout, it’s expected that 19 million locations will be covered by the footprint.

Update: BT has announced the full list of the next 99 exchanges due to get FTTC and FTTP upgrades. They are as follows:

England

• Allestree Park – East Midlands
• Ambergate – East Midlands
• Atherstone – West Midlands
• Avonmouth – South West
• Barnard Castle – North East
• Barton On Humber – Yorkshire and The Humber
• Battle – South East
• Beamish – North East
• Belgravia – London
• Belper – East Midlands
• Birtley – North East
• Blythe Bridge – West Midlands
• Bosham – South East
• Bracklesham Bay – South East
• Broadwell – West Midlands
• Broomfield – East Of England
• Castle Donington – East Midlands
• Cheddington – South East
• Chelmsley Wood – West Midlands
• Chelsea – London
• Chorleywood – East Of England
• Conisbrough – Yorkshire and The Humber
• Cooden – South East
• Cuckoo Oak – West Midlands
• Darlington – North East
• Dunston – North East
• Easington – North East
• East (Central Midlands) – West Midlands
• Ebchester – North East
• Eckington; Derbyshire – East Midlands
• Finchfield – West Midlands
• Gillingham (Solent) – South West
• Greyfriars – West Midlands
• Grimsby – Yorkshire And The Humber
• Hagley – West Midlands
• Harefield – London
• Harwich – East Of England
• Healing – Yorkshire and The Humber
• Hollinswood – West Midlands
• Houghton Regis – East Of England
• Hunts Cross – North West
• Hurstpierpoint – South East
• Kensington Gardens – London
• Keresley – West Midlands
• Knebworth – East Of England
• Market Drayton – West Midlands
• Melbourne; Derbyshire – East Midlands
• Mexborough – Yorkshire and The Humber
• Milton Lee – West Midlands
• Newbiggin On Lune – North West
• Norton (North East) – North East
• Olney – South East
• Radcliffe On Trent – East Midlands
• Rawmarsh Parkgate – Yorkshire and The Humber
• Redcar – North East
• Runcorn East – North West
• Scartho – Yorkshire and The Humber
• Seaton Delaval – North East
• Shanklin – South East
• Shipston On Stour – West Midlands
• Stechford – West Midlands
• Stoke City – West Midlands
• Swanage – South West
• Thrybergh – Yorkshire and The Humber
• Tickhill – Yorkshire and The Humber
• Tipton – West Midlands
• Trentham – West Midlands
• Walsgrave-On-Sowe – West Midlands
• Wath Upon Dearne – Yorkshire and The Humber
• Wellesbourne – West Midlands
• Wellfield – North East
• Whickham – North East
• Wollaton – East Midlands
• Yapton – South East

Scotland

• Alloway – Scotland
• Beith – Scotland
• Blairgowrie – Scotland
• Bonnybridge – Scotland
• Cambusnethan – Scotland
• Carnoustie – Scotland
• Coatbridge – Scotland
• Dalry – Scotland
• Drumchapel – Scotland
• Dundee Claverhouse – Scotland
• Dundee Steeple – Scotland
• Duntocher – Scotland
• Dysart – Scotland
• East Kilbride – Scotland
• Ellon – Scotland
• Forres – Scotland
• Glenrothes (South) – Scotland
• Johnstone – Scotland
• Kennoway – Scotland
• Loanhead – Scotland
• Lochgelly – Scotland
• Provanmill – Scotland
• Renfrew – Scotland
• Merrylee – Scotland
• Turriff – Scotland

February 12, 2013

Northamptonshire wants 100 per cent fibre by 2017 

​Northamptonshire County Council wants BT to roll out superfast fibre broadband to 100 per cent of the county’s homes and businesses by 2017.

The council has just announced that it’s signed up BT to connect 90 per cent of the county to superfast fibre broadband by 2015.

Like the majority of regional contracts awarded to BT, the job will see most Northamptonshire residents and businesses able to access FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) and FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) broadband. The remaining 10 per cent will be guaranteed speeds of at least 2Mbps via other means.

Further down in the council’s press release are details of a plan to take this further.

“The county council plans to work with BT and local stakeholders to secure further gap funding in support of its ultimate ambition to achieve full NGA [Next Generation Access] coverage by the end of 2017 which can support even higher access line speeds of 30Mbps and above.”

Next Generation Access is Openreach terminology for fibre-based superfast broadband, meaning Northamptonshire plans to get everyone connected to at least FTTC within the next four years.

Whether the funding gap can be reached is another matter altogether, but you can’t fault Northamptonshire County Council for their ambition.

February 6, 2013

Superfast fibre for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

​BT has been tasked with rolling out superfast fibre broadband across the majority of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Cambridgeshire isn’t talking exact figures, but it’s saying that ‘over 90 per cent’ and ‘very nearly 100 per cent’ of homes and business premises will be connected by 2015. Reading between the lines then we can expect the figure to be north of 95 per cent.

As well as this, the remaining percentage of homes and businesses outside this footprint will be able to get a minimum of 2Mbps by 2015.

Given what we’ve seen elsewhere with BT’s regional broadband plans, we’d expect that the majority of lines rolled out will be FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet), providing top download speeds of 80Mbps. A handful of properties will benefit from FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) lines which will provide more reliable and faster download speeds of 330Mbps.

Those not benefiting from fibre broadband will see their 2Mbps service delivered either with bonded ADSL lines or satellite broadband.

Cambridgeshire County Council is spending £20 million with Peterborough City Council spending £3 million. £6.75 million government funding from BDUK is also being spent on the project.

February 5, 2013

BT fibre for over 90 per cent of South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire

BT has announced another regional rollout deal with South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire councils.

The £35.6 million deal will see over 90 per cent of homes and businesses will benefitting from new broadband connections providing speeds of over 24Mbps.

As is the case with all the broadband contracts awarded to BT thus far, the remaining few outside the 24Mbps upgrade footprint will get speeds of at least 2Mbps.

In South Gloucestershire it’s expected that 94 per cent of locations will benefit from upgrades whereas in Wiltshire, 91 per cent of homes and businesses can expect upgrades.

It’s expected that the majority of connections will be of the FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) variety, providing top download speeds of 80Mbps. In selected areas, faster FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) lines will be installed, providing top speeds of 330Mbps.

Eventually, customers connected to FTTC lines will be able to upgrade the ‘last mile’ of their connection with the FTTP On Demand programme for a one-off fee.

Those not in line for any fibre-based broadband will get their 2Mbps either via satellite broadband or bonded DSL, as is the case with Superfast Cornwall.

BT is expected to get the job done in both regions by March 2016.

January 31, 2013 

Fibre-only Deddington lights up for 330Mbps 

Ultra-fast broadband connections have been switched on in Britain’s first fibre-only village at Deddington in Oxfordshire.

The small rural exchange is a pilot project for BT Openreach in switching an entire area from copper-based broadband to fibre-optics which can potentially deliver Gigabit-speed connections.

Among the first wave of connected businesses is Dijon Designs, where MD Simon Baxter had considered moving out of the village to have a faster internet connection, but can now get up to 330Mbps down and 30Mbps up.

Simon said: “Our rural location has always been the envy of visitors, but going forward it will be our internet connection. Today our connection is around 300 times faster and this has already brought about a massive change in the way we work.”

Work on Deddington’s transformation began in Spring 2012 and the majority of the Oxfordshire village’s 1,400 lines are expected to have fibre connections by the end of January, also reaching Barford St Michael, Aynho Wharf, Hempton and Clifton.

Jim Flux of Deddington Parish Council said: “It’s really wonderful to see the project reach this stage. I’ve enjoyed working with BT to help make this happen and now that these ultra-fast speeds are available in the village I really hope everyone will take advantage. 

“I think it will open up many opportunities here in Deddington and look forward to seeing how it can help improve village life.”

The long-term project will see every home and business switched to fibre for both internet and voice connections, although copper lines won’t be removed for several years.

Steve Jones, head of the fibre only exchange pilot, Openreach said: “Laying fibre optic cables to every home and business in a rural village is very challenging and we would not have come so far without the excellent support from the local community. 

“Fresh advances in technology are pushing the boundaries for new services on an almost daily basis. So this pilot here in Deddington is very important and will help the industry better understand the opportunities arising from a fibre-only world.” 

January 23, 2013

BT fibre broadband coming to rural Oxfordshire village of Islip

Though not initially on BT’s £2.5 million rollout, the rural Oxfordshire village of Islip, which has a population of just over 600, is now in line to get a roadside cabinet serving almost every home in the village.

Residents have raised over £11,000 to contribute toward the cost of building an extension to the fibre broadband network, which will bring speeds of up to 80Mbps to the village.

Work is expected to be completed in June 2013 with the majority of homes in the area able to get speeds in excess of 30Mbps. Following the agreement, Openreach, BT’s local network business, will start work on connecting the roadside cabinet serving Islip (Google Maps link) to the fibre network in Kidlington. 

Alison Mitchell, Chair of Islip Parish Council, said: “Due to the distance from the local exchange at Kidlington, our villagers have received extremely slow broadband to date over the existing copper lines. High-speed broadband is of critical importance for many residents, and especially people who run businesses in, or work regularly from, the village, so we decided to take action.”

Once done, those premises connected to the cabinet will eventually be able to upgrade to even faster speeds once FTTP On Demand is in place. Today, Openreach revealed further details outlining the prices for future proofing your broadband line. It’s not cheap, but as trials have proven, you’ll be getting a line which one day may give you 10Gbps speeds.

January 15, 2013

BT bringing Fibre Broadband to 80 per cent of Norfolk

BT and Norfolk County Council have formally announced the signing of a contract which will see 80 per cent of Norfolk able to get superfast broadband within the next three years.

This is a small step up from the 75 per cent of Norfolk that was going to be covered under an older deal. By 2015, BT aims to have every home and business in Norfolk able to get at least 2Mbps.

The majority of locations will be getting FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) with others getting faster FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) lines instead.

Now that price details of BT’s FTTP On Demand programme are available, we know that businesses who want to benefit from FTTP in an area where only FTTC is available will need to invest roughly £1,500 for higher speeds and future proofed lines.

Image credit: Flickr user Martin Pettitt

December 21, 2012

BT given permission to begin work in Cumbria

BT has announced that it’s been given the official go-ahead to start installing fibre broadband in Cumbria.

FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) and FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) lines will be connected to homes and businesses in the county, 93 per cent of which will be connected to new broadband lines.

Cumbria County Council announced back in September that it planned to work with BT, but work couldn’t begin until the BDUK funding process had been rubber stamped by the EU.

Now that’s all done and dusted the digging and the ducting can begin. Cumbria is expected to announce which communities will benefit first in early 2013, after a three month planning and surveying period.

November 29, 2012

BT to bring fibre to 88 per cent Herefordshire and Gloucestershire

Herefordshire Council and Gloucestershire County Council have announced that BT has been picked as the preferred bidder to bring fibre broadband to the two counties.

Along with £18.17 million of money from the UK Government, the two councils have made ‘significant capital investment’ in the project taking the total pot up to £35.4 million.

Councillor Graham Powell, cabinet member for education and infrastructure at Herefordshire Council, said: “This project, along with commercial improvements to the network, should see 88 per cent of homes and business within our county having access to speeds of 30Mbps and above.”

The work is expected to be completed by the end of 2016, a year after the Government’s initial 2015 deadline. Thanks to the Department for Culture, Media and Sports apparently dragging its heels on getting the relevant info to the EU, that 2015 date might have to be revised.

By 2016, BT Openreach also ought to have made its FTTP On Demand programme live, which will see FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) lines, providing up to 80Mbps speeds tricked out to FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) lines which provide speeds of up to 330Mbps.

As we’ve also recently seen, these FTTP lines are well future proofed, capable of providing speeds of up to 10Gbps.

We’re not yet sure how much FTTP On Demand will coast – we know it’s not going to be cheap but we’ll see what Openreach has to say about that when its trial ends in May 2013.

November 29, 2012

  19 million locations to be connected by Spring 2014  

BT has just announced that 19 million locations will be connected to its fibre broadband network by Spring 2014.

This 19 million figure equates to roughly two-thirds of the UK, seeing BT hit its initial target ahead of its original ‘end-of-2014’ estimate.

This will see more homes and businesses in the UK able to order FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) and FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) in 2014. As well as being able to order BT Infinity and BT Infinity 100 from BT, this also means that the availability of Sky, TalkTalk, Plusnet, Zen Internet and now EE’s fibre-based packages will increase too.

This ahead-of-schedule announcement also means that BT will be able to concentrate on the ‘final third’ BDUK contracts it’s been awarded by local authorities in Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Suffolk, Surrey and Wales.

Liv Garfield, Openreach chief executive announced that BT will be recruiting more engineers to help accelerate network rollout:

The fact we are able to set an earlier target for the completion of our commercial roll-out is a fantastic testament to the ongoing hard work of our engineers. We look forward to welcoming many more engineers to Openreach over the coming months as we step up our recruitment drive to help connect fibre to more homes and businesses across the UK.”

November 1, 2012

  170,000 North Yorkshire homes and businesses to get FTTC by 2013  

BT has announced that thousands of homes and businesses in North Yorkshire are now in line for speed boosts thanks to BT’s near-countywide rollout programme.

Right now, 3,500 homes and businesses in Filey are described as being ‘on the fibre network’ though it’s not clear if this means those on the network can order BT Infinity FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet), BT Infinity 100 FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) or a mixture of both.

BT also reveals that 26,000 more premises – in Acomb, Cross Hills, Starbeck and West Ayton – are all set for upgrades which will roll out over the coming weeks.

This announcement means that 170,000 homes and businesses in North Yorkshire will be able to order BT Infinity products by the end of 2013. The aim of Superfast North Yorkshire – the partnership between BT and North Yorkshire County Council – is to have 90 per cent of the county able to get superfast speeds by the end of 2014.

October 16, 2012

  EU approval greenlights BT superfast work  

BT can now officially plough ahead with its rural broadband plans now the EU competition regulator has approved use of BDUK money for projects like Superfast North Yorkshire.

Cash awarded to BT by councils from the BDUK war chest was subject to strict EU rules on state aid, specifically to prevent public money being used to essentially create monopolies.

With Fujitsu and Cable & Wireless dropping out of local council bids, it was certainly looking like the money was going all one way – to BT.

Pending some final rubber stamping due later this month, reports the FT [paywall], BT should be able to begin its work with earnest. Regulation has already delayed work by some three months, meaning councils and BT will need to work fast if the 2015 deadline can be reached.

Over 11 million UK premises have already been connected to BT’s own £2.5 billion network this year, giving some indication of how quickly the company can move. Now that the red tape is all but out of the way, we’re expecting BT to put its foot down and start lighting up fibre.

So far, BT has been awarded contracts for Cumbria, North Yorkshire Rutland, Suffolk, Surrey and Wales.

October 7, 2012

Openreach to cut fibre install fees but will customers benefit?

Openreach will be cutting the costs for FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) install fees it charges to other ISPs that make use of its next-gen fibre network.

Normally, Openreach charges ISPs £80 for each customer they connect. For the first six months of 2013, BT will, according to this announcement, cut this price to £30 per customer. This will save ISPs £50 a time. At the moment, part (or all) of the cost of the £80 fee is passed on to the customer in some form, either as an installation fee or spread across a contract.

TalkTalk fibre for example charges a £30 installation fee for its Fibre Medium and Fibre Large services. Sky’s Fibre Unlimited and Fibre Unlimited Pro don’t require install fees but at £20/month and £30/month they’re a bit pricier than Sky’s regular £7.50/month service.

Of course ISPs might not pass on any savings immediately, but could use cash saved in the first half of 2013 to invest in greater discounts in the future.

October 2, 2012

Suffolk County Council picks BT for next-gen broadband rollout

Suffolk County Council has named BT as its preferred partner for next-gen broadband rollout. The Better Broadband for Suffolk campaign aims to bring speeds of at least 2Mbps to every property in the county and superfast coverage to 85 per cent of residents.

As with the Government’s definition, anything higher than 25Mbps counts as ‘superfast’ which BT’s FTTC  lines, providing top speeds of 80Mbps, should do.

One of the criticisms levelled at BT’s FTTC network is that the company has prioritised areas perceived to offer a higher return on investment than others. This means that even though your telephone exchange has been upgraded to FTTC, your nearest street cabinet might not be.

Council officials however have charged BT to deliver faster speeds to all areas in Suffolk, not those areas where faster speeds are the easiest or most profitable to deliver. In fact, BT will be required to improve speeds in the hardest to reach areas first.

The contract is expected to be finalised and given regulatory approval by the end of October, with the first phase of work completed by the end of the year. It’s expected that the full county-wide project would be completed by June 2015.

October 1, 2012

  BT to bring fibre to 12 million UK homes and businesses in 2013  

BT has announced that another 1 million UK homes will be added to its FTTC and FTTP lines throughout 2013.

This is in addition to the exchanges that were already earmarked as part of BT’s £2.5 billion investment programme.

The 163 new exchanges given the thumbs up for fibre include Torquay in Devon and Kilbirnie on Scotland. And Tavistock!

Currently more than 11 million UK homes and businesses have access to faster FTTC or FTTP lines. BT aims to have two-thirds of the UK covered by its new network by 2015 and plans to launch an FTTP on-demand programme next year.

Which exchanges were earmarked for fibre on September 25?

Acomb, Airdrie, Alcester, Allesley, Alnwick, Alva, Amble, Anstruther, Arrowebrook, Aston Common, Aughton Green.

Bacup, Barnstaple, Batley, Bearwood, Bellshill, Billingshurst, Binley, Birmingham South, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bovey Tracey, Brimscombe, Brownhills, Buckhaven, Burnley, Burntisland, Burscough.

Castleham, Cheriton, Christchurch (Dorset), Clevedon, Cockenzie, Codsall, Collyhurst, Combe Down, Cowdenbeath, Crofton, Cross Hills, Culcheth Padgate, Cupar.

Darvel, Darwen, Dawlish, Denny, Desford, Dingwall, Draycott, Dunoon, Dursley.

Earl Shilton, East Leake, East Wigston, Edinburgh Fairmilehead, Edwalton, Elgin, Exhall.

Fort William, Frodsham.

Garstang, Gateacre, Gatley, Girvan, Glenboig, Glenrothes Central, Glenrothes North, Goldthorpe.

Haddington, Harborne, Hatfield Woodhouse, Hawick, Hayling Island, Heckmondwike, Helensburgh, Helsby, High Green, Holymoorside, Holytown, Honiton, Hoylake, Huddersfield.

Ilminster.

Kelso, Kelty, Keynsham, Kidsgrove, Kilbirnie, Killingworth, Kilwinning, Kimberley, Kirriemuir.

Laisterdyke, Lanark, Larkhall, Leabrooks, Ledbury, Lee-On- Solent, Lemington, Leominster, Lesmahagow, Lodge Hill, Longford, Longton (Staffordshire), Ludlow, Lyme Regis.

Maindee, Marlborough, Maryport.

Nelson (Lancashire), New Oakley, Newton-Le-Willows, Northbourne.

Oakengates, Okehampton.

Pelsall, Penistone, Pershore, Petersfield, Plymstock.

Queensbury.

Radford, Rectory, Repton, Rotherham North, Rowlands Gill, Rownhams, Runcorn, Rye.

Saffron Walden, Scotter, Sheldon, Sherborne, Shildon, Shirebrook, Skegness, Slaithwaite, Somersham, South Shore, Starbeck, Staveley (Derbyshire), Stubbington, Studley.

Tavistock, Tenterden, Thornbury, Tibshelf, Tiverton, Todmorden, Torquay, Totnes, Tranent, Twyford (Hampshire).

Victoria, Wareham, Warsop, Waterhays Dimsdale, West Ayton, Whitburn (Lothian), Whitley Bay, Wickham, Wirksworth, Wombourne, Yelverton.

September 25, 2012

  BT to bring FTTC to 49 per cent of Norfolk  

It’s been a busy week for BT. As well as announcing a deal with Surrey and Cumbria County Councils, a deal has also been done with Norfolk County Council.

According to the council’s site, 49 per cent of homes and businesses are expected to be able to access speeds of between 50 and 100Mbps. Some 20 per cent of properties will be able to get speeds ranging from five and 23Mbps, with a lucy few (six per cent) able to get speeds in excess of 100Mbps.

The deal will also see every home and business in Norfolk getting at least 2Mbps. This effectively means that BT will see the county hitting the Government target of 2Mbps for all by 2015.

As with the recently announced BT-Cumbria deal, regulatory approval on state aid will be needed before work can begin. A single item meeting will take place at 10.30am on Monday, 17 September at County Hall in Norwich, so we’ll know more about estimated times and rollout dates after then.

September 14, 2012

  93 per cent of Cumbria to get superfast broadband from BT  

Just as Fibre GarDen announces that its nabbed funding for Gardale and Dentdale, we hear that BT has been awarded a huge £40 million contract to connect up 93 per cent of the county.

FTTC and FTTP lines will be rolled out to homes and businesses across the county, with work hopefully starting early next year.

Cumbria and BT will first need to wait for the EU to approve the deal, due to rules on state aid potentially creating broadband monopolies. According to the North West Evening Mail, Cumbria County Council and BT hope to have a decision by November this year, so that planning on a rollout timetable can begin.

A BT spokesperson said: “We will be working closely with Cumbria County Council to complete the required activities necessary for contract signature over the coming weeks,” so we’ll know more then.

September 14, 2012

  BT to bring fibre broadband to nearly 100 per cent of Surrey  

BT has signed a contract with Surrey County Council which will se nearly 100 per cent of the county getting fibre broadband by 2015.

The deal will see FTTC lines rolling out, providing download speeds of up to 80Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps.

September 13, 2012

  BT picked to bring next-gen broadband to 96 per cent of Wales  

BT and the Welsh Assembly have signed a deal which will see 96 per cent of Wales getting faster fibre-based broadband by 2015. This deal is in addition to those areas of Wales already earmarked by BT for fibre broadband access.

FTTC and FTTP lines will be rolled out to Welsh homes and businesses over the next three years. The remaining 4 per cent will also benefit from faster ADSL speeds, which will increase up to a minimum of 24Mbps.

July 19, 2012

Surrey image credit: Flickr user trainmanchuff