Broad band roll out – update from Justine Ives, Bedford Borough Council, October 2018
Superfast Broadband briefing note for Wyboston Ward (updated October 2018) from Justine Ives
Bedford Borough Council was requested by Central Government to aid the rollout of Superfast Broadband by suppliers in order to increase coverage across the country. The Government’s policy is to provide funding to support the roll-out of superfast broadband to those areas of the UK where commercial rollout is not economically viable. Left to the commercial market, in many areas, largely in rural areas, there would be no roll-out of superfast broadband at all, or at least not for the foreseeable future.
The Council is working in partnership with BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK, part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) alongside Central Bedfordshire, Luton Borough and Milton Keynes Councils, to administer the Central Superfast Programme (‘the Programme’) which is to upgrade the infrastructure in order to extend fibre broadband coverage across the four councils.
In terms of the Bedfordshire Programme, work is currently being delivered under contract by Openreach in phases. With a project of this size and complexity it is essential to have a stable and planned workload to ensure that all works are completed in the most efficient and effective manner. In the interest of fairness, the four councils have been very clear from the outset that they would not prioritise any geographical areas over any others. Modelling was therefore delegated to Openreach to ensure maximum coverage with the funding available. It is also for Openreach to decide what assets are useable (or not) for the individual upgrades. We believe that this is the fairest and most robust approach and will allow progress with minimum of delays and will represent the best value for money.
There are four projects which comprise the overall programme:
• BDUK 1 Superfast Broadband Project 2014-2016 (completed)
• BDUK 2 Superfast Extension Project (SEP) 2016 – 2019 (currently live & being delivered by Openreach)
• BDUK Gainshare Project 2017/19 (currently live & being delivered by Openreach)
• BDUK 3 2019/20 (currently in deployment negotiations)
Please find below details for each of the parishes…
| Parish | Superfast enabled | In SEP/Gainshare plan | Eligible for future project funding | ||||
| Bolnhurst & Keysoe | MK44 2EL
MK44 2JE MK44 2JB MK44 2 JD MK44 2JG MK44 2HT |
MK44 2JF
MK44 2JA MK44 2EN MK44 2HW MK44 2HX MK44 2HL |
MK44 2HJ
MK44 2HP MK44 2HN MK44 2HR MK44 2HS |
MK44 2EY
MK44 2EX MK44 2ES MK44 2ET |
MK44 2PP
MK44 2EP MK44 2HB MK44 2JQ MK44 2JP |
MK44 2JH
MK44 2JJ MK44 2HU MK44 1AA |
|
| Colmworth | MK44 2NJ MK44 2JY
MK44 2JS MK44 2NJ |
MK44 2JT
MK44 2JX MK44 2LE MK44 2LL |
MK44 2HE
MK44 2LY MK44 2LB MK44 2LA MK44 2JN MK44 2NN |
MK44 2NR
MK44 2NS MK44 2QW MK44 2NT |
MK44 2EY
MK44 2NU MK44 2NH |
MK44 2AP MK44 2JZ | |
| Little
Staughton |
MK44 2BL
MK44 2BY MK44 2BU MK44 2TA |
MK44 2BH
MK44 2BS MK44 2BW |
MK44 2BT
MK44 2BX MK44 2BP |
MK44 2SX | |||
| Roxton | MK44 3DX
MK44 3EF MK44 3EG MK44 3ER MK44 3EA |
MK44 3DR
MK44 3EX MK44 3EE MK44 3EB |
MK44 3DS
MK44 3EL MK44 3EP MK44 3DQ |
MK44 3DS | |||
| Staploe | PE19 8JD
PE19 5HP PE19 5HQ PE19 5JX |
PE19 5HT
PE19 5HR PE19 5JA |
MK44 2LR
MK44 2NE MK44 2LS |
PE19 5BJ
MK44 2LP MK44 2LT |
PE19 5JB
MK44 2NX MK44 2LH |
MK44 2LD
MK44 3AT PE19 5JF |
|
| Wilden | MK44 2PY
MK44 2QG MK44 2QQ MK44 2QH MK44 2PE MK44 2PB |
MK44 2QN
MK44 2QD MK44 2PB MK44 2QB MK44 2PA MK44 2QL |
MK44 2PQ MK44 2PN
MK44 2PD MK44 2QA |
MK44 2PH | MK44 2PJ
MK44 2PP MK44 2PT |
|
| Wyboston,
Chawston & Colesden |
MK44 3BH
MK44 3BS MK44 3AG MK44 3BD MK44 3AB MK44 3BN |
MK44 3AN
MK44 3AF MK44 3AX MK44 3AD MK44 3BL MK44 3AU |
MK44 3AE MK44 3AS
MK44 3AP MK44 3AY PE19 8EN |
MK44 2NX
MK44 2NT MK44 3AZ MK44 3BW |
MK44 3AT
MK44 3DA MK44 3BX |
NB postcodes provided by Parish Clerks
Current Project – BDUK 2 Superfast Extension Project (SEP) & Gainshare Project
• Project currently live with a further 5,000 premises in Bedford Borough expected to be enabled to receive superfast broadband. This will increase coverage to 97% coverage.
• There have been a number of operational issues that Openreach have, and are facing, with project deployment. The project is currently waiting for a Remedial Plan (we hoped to have one by now). This means that the completion of the work to supply superfast broadband to the area is now likely to be extended until June 2019.
• Please be reassured that we are putting as much pressure as we can on Openreach to deliver the project and we are encouraged by the resource and support they have for the deployment. Be assured if we can deliver it earlier, then we will.
Next – BDUK3 Project
• Project 3 (BDUK 3) contract has been awarded to Openreach.
• Deployment plans are under review and we are waiting for agreement to be reached before sharing plans. Work is due to take place between April and December 2019.
• Openreach state that BDUK 3 timelines are not anticipated to be impacted by the BDUK 2 delays.
• This is currently the final project and seeks to get superfast coverage for the final 2-3% of the area, with speeds of no less than 30Mbps.
• All the remaining unserved premises in Bedford Borough were eligible for funding and there was a requirement to cover as many of the remaining premises as possible with the funding available, however, we cannot guarantee that all properties will benefit. The solution from the provider is Fibre to the Premise (FTTP).
New – Gigabit Voucher Scheme
• Full fibre broadband connections offer the fastest and most reliable speeds available, and the government is committed to a vision of a full fibre Britain. As part of this commitment in March 2018 they announced a £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.
• Gigabit vouchers can be used by small businesses and the local communities surrounding them to contribute to the installation cost of a gigabit capable connection. Businesses can claim up to £3,000 against the cost of connection either individually or as part of a group project. Residents can benefit from the scheme as part of a group project which also includes businesses, and can claim for a voucher of the value of £500.