From Roman Roads to the 21st Century Digital Superhighway - some of Warwickshire's oldest villages to get superfast fibre broadband
When William Shakespeare famously questioned whether you could have ‘too much of a good thing’, he was clearly not thinking about the positive benefits of superfast fibre broadband that were to come. Now, centuries later, a number of the most historic villages in the Bard’s home county have become some of the latest areas of Warwickshire to be included in the CSW Broadband roll-out of high-speed fibre broadband.
They include parts of Wibtoft and Copston Magna, close to the crossing point of Watling Street and Fosse Way - two of the best-known Roman Roads in Britain– as well as Baddesley Clinton, Corley Ash, Church Lawford, Danzey Green, Upper and Lower Shuckburgh. The new technology will start to be available for the first time from the middle of next year.
The programme is spearheaded by Warwickshire County Council and BT and is part of the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme.
Councillor Kam Kaur, Warwickshire County Council Portfolio Holder for Customer and Transformation, said: “There are teenagers today who have never known life without the internet. They take it for granted that they can stream video and music, book holidays and concerts, work from home – and have access to all of their school or college information and carry out research just as though they were in the classroom. This announcement means that more of our historic villages will be able to benefit from the same services.
“Because we are now reaching some of the most rural areas, the residents and businesses will really see the benefits of not having to drive in order to carry out the most basic of tasks – so the project will benefit the environment as well!”
More than 58,000 Warwickshire 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
When BT’s own commercial investment in fibre broadband is taken into account, the figure rises to more than 241,000, of which more than 227,000 households and businesses can access superfast speeds of 24 megabits (Mbps) and above. According to independent website, thinkbroadband, superfast speeds are now available to more than 92 per cent of Warwickshire premises.
Colin Bannon, chair of BT’s West Midlands regional board, said: “Shakespeare and the Romans had great vision so I’m sure they would have appreciated the huge opportunities offered by superfast broadband!
“The pace of the CSW Broadband roll-out is enabling the partnership to bring the benefits of this exciting technology to even more people, regardless of where they live. From Little Shuckburgh to Stratford-upon-Avon, we’re extending the reach of the technology across the county to ensure more households and businesses can benefit.
“Whether you’re running a small business, working from home, or a family wanting to connect several devices to the internet at the same time, everything is easier, better and faster with fibre broadband.”
Because the fibre broadband network is being installed by Openreach – the local network business which is part of BT Group – 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 uses its existing underground ducting 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
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: Consumer, EE, Business and Public Sector, Global Services, Wholesale and Ventures, and Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 2017, BT Group’s reported revenue was £24,062m with reported profit before taxation of £2,354m.
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.
For more information, visit www.btplc.com
About Openreach
Openreach is the UK’s leading digital infrastructure provider.
Its 32,000 employees are responsible for building and maintaining millions of miles of fibre and copper cables that connect every home and business in the UK to local telephone exchanges. Openreach operates and maintains this network to deliver a range of wholesale services for more than 580 retail providers, who in-turn provide telephony, broadband, TV and data services to more than 30 million consumer and business customers throughout the country.
Openreach is a highly regulated business, with more than 90 per cent of its revenues generated from services that are regulated by Ofcom. Any company can access its products under exactly the same prices, terms and conditions.
Over the last decade, Openreach has invested more than £10bn into its network and is currently building the UK’s largest fibre broadband footprint. This technology is available to more than 26 million homes and businesses, with tens of thousands more gaining access each week.
Openreach is a wholly owned and independently governed division of the BT Group. For the year ended 31 March 2017, it reported revenues of £5.1bn.
For more information, visit openreach.co.uk
