UPD2 BT Reveal 163 New UK Locations for its Superfast Broadband Deployment

BTOpenreach, which manages the access and development of BT’s national UK telecoms network, has today published the next batch of 163 telephone exchanges for its £2.5bn roll out of 80Mbps capable Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) and 330Mbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based superfast broadband ISP technology.

The latest list of exchange upgrades (Phase 10b [originally it was supposed to be called phase 10c]) are expected to add an extra 1 million homes and businesses (premises) to the operators superfast network, with the majority being given estimated Ready for Service (RFS) dates that run throughout 2013 (note: the actual upgrades often suffer delays).

At present the operators fibre optic based service covers roughly 40% of UK premises (11 million homes and businesses passed) and today’s announcement will see exchanges spread right across the UK, from Torquay in Devon to Kilbirnie in Scotland, being upgraded next year.

Mike Galvin, Openreach’s MD of Network Investment, said:

“This is great news for 163 communities across the UK where fibre will bring huge benefits by helping to create jobs and boosting local economies. Our roll-out of fibre continues apace, with more than 11 million homes currently having access to the many benefits this technology can deliver.

Today’s announcement shows that we are well into our journey to bring fibre to two-thirds of the UK by the end of 2014. We have now announced the bulk of the exchanges we will be deploying fibre to under our own steam [private investment] but we are keen to go even further with the help of BDUK funding. We will continue to engage with local government and communities to try and give as many people as possible access to the benefits of fibre broadband.”

Latest FTTx Telephone Exchange Upgrades (Phase 10b)

ACOMB North Yorkshire
AIRDRIE Strathclyde
ALCESTER Warwickshire
ALLESLEY West Midlands
ALNWICK Northumberland
ALVA Clackmannanshire
AMBLE Northumberland
ANSTRUTHER Fife
ARROWEBROOK Merseyside
ASTON COMMON South Yorkshire
AUGHTON GREEN Lancashire
BACUP Lancashire
BARNSTAPLE Devon
BATLEY West Yorkshire
BEARWOOD West Midlands
BELLSHILL North Lanarkshire
BILLINGSHURST West Sussex
BINLEY West Midlands
BIRMINGHAM SOUTH West Midlands
BLACKBURN Lancashire
BLACKPOOL Lancashire
BOVEY TRACEY Devon
BRIMSCOMBE Gloucestershire
BROWNHILLS West Midlands
BUCKHAVEN Fife
BURNLEY Lancashire
BURNTISLAND Fife
BURSCOUGH Lancashire
CASTLEHAM East Sussex
CHERITON Kent
CHRISTCHURCH; DORSET Dorset
CLEVEDON Somerset
COCKENZIE East Lothian
CODSALL Staffordshire
COLLYHURST Greater Manchester
COMBE DOWN Somerset
COWDENBEATH Fife
CROFTON West Yorkshire
CROSS HILLS North Yorkshire
CULCHETH PADGATE Cheshire
CUPAR Fife
DARVEL East Ayrshire
DARWEN Lancashire
DAWLISH Devon
DENNY Falkirk
DESFORD Leicestershire
DINGWALL Highland
DRAYCOTT Derbyshire
DUNOON Argyll and Bute
DURSLEY Gloucestershire
EARL SHILTON Leicestershire
EAST LEAKE Nottinghamshire
EAST WIGSTON Leicestershire
EDINBURGH FAIRMILEHEAD City of Edinburgh
EDWALTON Nottinghamshire
ELGIN Moray
EXHALL Warwickshire
FORT WILLIAM Highland
FRODSHAM Cheshire
GARSTANG Lancashire
GATEACRE Merseyside
GATLEY Greater Manchester
GIRVAN South Ayrshire
GLENBOIG North Lanarkshire
GLENROTHES CENTRAL Fife
GLENROTHES NORTH Fife
GOLDTHORPE South Yorkshire
HADDINGTON East Lothian
HARBORNE West Midlands
HATFIELD WOODHOUSE South Yorkshire
HAWICK Scottish Borders
HAYLING ISLAND Hampshire
HECKMONDWIKE West Yorkshire
HELENSBURGH Argyll and Bute
HELSBY Cheshire
HIGH GREEN South Yorkshire
HOLYMOORSIDE Derbyshire
HOLYTOWN North Lanarkshire
HONITON Devon
HOYLAKE Merseyside
HUDDERSFIELD West Yorkshire
ILMINSTER Somerset
KELSO Scottish Borders
KELTY Fife
KEYNSHAM Somerset
KIDSGROVE Staffordshire
KILBIRNIE North Ayrshire
KILLINGWORTH Tyne and Wear
KILWINNING North Ayrshire
KIMBERLEY Nottinghamshire
KIRRIEMUIR Angus
LAISTERDYKE West Yorkshire
LANARK South Lanarkshire
LARKHALL South Lanarkshire
LEABROOKS Derbyshire
LEDBURY Herefordshire
LEE-ON- SOLENT Hampshire
LEMINGTON Tyne and Wear
LEOMINSTER Herefordshire
LESMAHAGOW South Lanarkshire
LODGE HILL Greater London
LONGFORD Greater Manchester
LONGTON; STAFFORDSHIRE Staffordshire
LUDLOW Shropshire
LYME REGIS Dorset
MAINDEE Casnewydd – Newport
MARLBOROUGH Wiltshire
MARYPORT Cumbria
NELSON; LANCASHIRE Lancashire
NEW OAKLEY Fife
NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS Merseyside
NORTHBOURNE Dorset
OAKENGATES Shropshire
OKEHAMPTON Devon
PELSALL West Midlands
PENISTONE South Yorkshire
PERSHORE Worcestershire
PETERSFIELD Hampshire
PLYMSTOCK Devon
QUEENSBURY West Yorkshire
RADFORD West Midlands
RECTORY West Midlands
REPTON Derbyshire
ROTHERHAM NORTH South Yorkshire
ROWLANDS GILL Tyne and Wear
ROWNHAMS Hampshire
RUNCORN Cheshire
RYE East Sussex
SAFFRON WALDEN Essex
SCOTTER Lincolnshire
SHELDON West Midlands
SHERBORNE Dorset
SHILDON County Durham
SHIREBROOK Derbyshire
SKEGNESS Lincolnshire
SLAITHWAITE West Yorkshire
SOMERSHAM Cambridgeshire
SOUTH SHORE Lancashire
STARBECK North Yorkshire
STAVELEY; DERBYSHIRE Derbyshire
STUBBINGTON Hampshire
STUDLEY Warwickshire
TAVISTOCK Devon
TENTERDEN Kent
THORNBURY Gloucestershire
TIBSHELF Derbyshire
TIVERTON Devon
TODMORDEN West Yorkshire
TORQUAY Devon
TOTNES Devon
TRANENT East Lothian
TWYFORD; HAMPSHIRE Hampshire
VICTORIA West Midlands
WAREHAM Dorset
WARSOP Nottinghamshire
WATERHAYS DIMSDALE Staffordshire
WEST AYTON North Yorkshire
WHITBURN; LOTHIAN West Lothian
WHITLEY BAY Tyne and Wear
WICKHAM Hampshire
WIRKSWORTH Derbyshire
WOMBOURNE Staffordshire
YELVERTON Devon

BT ultimately hopes to cover 66% of the UK population by the end of 2014 through its own private investment, which could be pushed up to 90% by 2017 with the lion’s share of public funding from the governments Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) budget (around £1bn+). BT has set aside another £1bn (total £3.5bn) of its own for use in match-funding with any related release of state aid.

It’s important to note that FTTC, which dominates the roll-out and only takes the new fibre optic cable as far as your street cabinet (i.e. slower and more variable top speeds than true fibre FTTP technology), will on average cover 85% of homes and businesses within an enabled telephone exchange area (here).

The good news is that BTOpenreach intends to launch its new FTTP-On-Demand service next Spring 2013, which will allow any existing FTTC line to be upgraded (i.e. copper line replaced with fibre optic cable) to a full “ultra-fast” FTTP product. Sadly this will be a much more expensive “premium” service and is thus aimed more towards business customers than home users.

Previous BT-FTTC/FTTP UK Exchange Rollout Updates

* March 2009 – 29 (FTTC) Exchanges
* July 2009 – 69 (FTTC) Exchanges
* January 2010 – 63 (FTTC) Exchanges
* March 2010 – 303 (FTTC) Exchanges
* September 2010 – 159 (FTTC/FTTP) Exchanges
* January 2011 – 41 (FTTC/FTTP) Exchanges
* April 2011 – 156 (FTTC/FTTP) Exchanges
* June 2011 – 66 (FTTC/FTTP) Exchanges
* December 2011 – 178 (FTTC) Exchanges
* March 2012 – 73 (FTTC) Exchanges
* June 2012 – 98 (FTTC) Exchanges

NOTE: Openreach’s Superfast-Broadband website usually contains the most up-to-date details about coverage in specific areas.

UPDATE 10:18am

We’re still waiting for the list of exchanges and will publish that as soon as it arrives. We know that Scotland has some more coverage this time but not much else, beyond what’s stated above, until we can see the detail.

UPDATE 12:04pm

Added the list of 163 new telephone exchange upgrades.

UPDATE 26th September 2012

Changed the Phase 10bpf name in this article to Phase 10b as that is now what shows on Openreach’s website. So far today’s list has been called Phase 10c, Phase 10bpf and now Phase 10b. Speaking to our BT contacts nobody seems very sure why the phase names have changed around so much this time.