CSW Broadband roll-out brings new communications technology to some of England's oldest villages
CSW BROADBAND ROLL-OUT BRINGS NEW COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY TO SOME OF ENGLAND’S OLDEST VILLAGES
Historic Grandborough, Ladbroke, Langley and Wasperton among the next Warwickshire villages set to benefit from superfast fibre broadband
Some of the county’s oldest villages – featured in the Domesday Book – will be among the next communities to benefit from the new tech being rolled out by the CSW Broadband partnership, lead partners Warwickshire County Council and BT announced today.
Areas of Grandborough, Ladbroke, Langley and Wasperton - along with Barford and Burton Green – will be included in the latest part of the CSW Broadband roll-out, which is part of the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme.
Councillor Alan Cockburn, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Finance & Property at Warwickshire County Council, said: “This shows that we really are bringing 21stcentury communications to some of the more remote parts of our area. Many of these communities will have seen the fibre network getting closer to them, but until now they have not been able to benefit from faster broadband. This will change, and over the coming 12 months residents and businesses in these areas will be able to upgrade their service and take advantage of a wide range of broadband packages from the full marketplace of Internet Service Providers.
“Furthermore, for the first time the CSW Broadband team have information down to premise level about where a number of different providers plan to roll out their services to the end of 2019. If residents and businesses want to check the future status of their property they can now do so on the project website at www.cswbroadband.org.uk .” *
Colin Bannon, BT’s Regional Director for Warwickshire and the West Midlands, said: “Rolling out fibre broadband to some parts of rural Warwickshire is complex because of the additional infrastructure and equipment needed. Work has already begun on this phase of the project and if everything goes to plan we aim to finish this part of the roll-out early next year. Once an area has gone ‘live’, local households and businesses who opt for an upgrade will receive a much more reliable, faster connection.
“Working from home or running a business from a rural location becomes a more viable option, and sharing large files over email is much faster with fibre broadband. Families who use the internet for shopping, research, streaming videos, catch-up TV or uploading photos, can do all those things more quickly over fibre broadband.”
Warwickshire County Councillor, Philip Johnson, Chair of Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee, said: “We really are reaching out into some of the most difficult areas with this part of the roll-out, known as Wave 5. This is why there are so many ‘exchange only’** connections that will require the installation of two cabinets to bring faster broadband to these communities. We are also seeing increasing numbers of fibre to the premises** installations, which take longer to install but bring much faster services. Residents and businesses in these areas will have a wide choice of Internet service providers, offering more choice and price points to suit individual needs.”
More than 57,000 premises now have access to faster fibre broadband as a result of the CSW Broadband roll-out. Updates on the roll-out are available from: www.cswbroadband.org.uk .
Because the fibre broadband network is being installed by Openreach – BT’s local network business – households and businesses have a wide choice of fibre broadband providers. Upgrades do not happen automatically. Residents and businesses wanting to benefit need to place an order with their chosen fibre broadband provider.
Openreach reuses its existing underground pipework wherever possible, minimising disruption and the need to dig up roads and pavements.
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Issued by Warwickshire County Council and BT on behalf of the CSW Broadband partnership.
For more information please contact Leigh Hunt at the CSW Broadband project office on 01926 738339 or email: broadband@cswbroadband.org.uk
Or
Emma Tennant at the BT regional press office on 0800 085 0660 or email: emma.tennant@bt.com Twitter: @EmmaTennantBT
Note to Editors
*This information was given in commercial confidence, so the CSW Broadband team won’t be able to disclose which providers are planning to deploy to each area.
About CSW Broadband
**The CSW Broadband roll-out is using a mixture of technologies. These include Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC), which provides download speeds of up to 80Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps, and Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP), which is capable of delivering download speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) and upload speeds of up to 220Mbps. In addition there are some premises that are currently connected directly to the telephone exchange rather than via a green roadside cabinet, sometimes known as Exchange Only (EO) lines. In order to connect EO lines, further roadside cabinets have to be installed.
Speeds referred to are the top wholesale speeds available from BT’s local network business, Openreach, to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.
The CSW Broadband programme is made up of different phases and contracts.
The £2 million expansion - highlighted in this press release - has been made available to the CSW Broadband programme as a result of the ‘gainshare’ mechanism in the original contract. It has been triggered by strong take-up of fibre broadband by local households and businesses. It is known as Contract 2, Part 2.
Contract 2, Part 1 of the CSW Broadband programme was announced in February 2015. The deal was spearheaded by Warwickshire County Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, which are contributing an initial £3.68 million and £0.38 million respectively, with an additional £2.61m from BT and a further £4.06m from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Superfast Extension Programme (SEP). When complete, it will increase the percentage of homes and businesses able to access high-speed fibre broadband in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire to nearly 94 per cent when combined with the first phase of the CSW Broadband roll-out already underway and the private sector investments of companies like BT.
The first part of the CSW Broadband roll-out is known as Contract 1 which started connecting the first homes and businesses in April 2014. This £15.47 million deal was spearheaded by Warwickshire County Council, BT and the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme, to enable around 40,000 premises to access high-speed fibre broadband.
As the property-level mapping is still in development, the CSW Broadband team is asking people to check the map at www.cswbroadband.org.uk and to report any discrepancies by using the simple online form.
About Superfast Britain
Superfast Britain is a Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race.
The portfolio is comprised of three elements:
- £790m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017;
- £150m to provide high-speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities; and
- £150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and basic data network services.
Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life.
For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk
About BT
BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services. BT consists of six customer-facing lines of business: Global Services, Business and Public Sector, Consumer, EE, Wholesale and Ventures, and Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 20161, BT Group’s reported revenue was £19,012m with reported profit before taxation of £2,907m.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.
1The results for the period have been revised to reflect the outcome of the investigation into our Italian business. Detail of which is set out in our third quarter results announcement published on 27 January 2017. This financial information is unaudited.
For more information, visit www.btplc.com
All BT news releases can be accessed at our web site: http://www.btplc.com/News
