Nottinghamshire UK Details Extended “Fibre Broadband” Rollout Plan

The Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire scheme in England has revealed a more detailed roll-out plan for their second state aid supported “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) contract with BTOpenreach, which will extend the service to another 17,000 premises by Spring 2018 (98% coverage).

At present the original Phase 1 contract (worth £19.8m) is already working to make related high-speed broadband services available to 95% of local homes and businesses by the end of March 2016, which will benefit an additional 52,000 premises via 400 new roadside street cabinets and 1 million metres of new fibre optic cable.

By our reckoning most of plan for the first contract has already been completed and so we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it finish ahead of schedule. Meanwhile the latest Broadband Delivery UK based Superfast Extension Programme (Phase 2) contract, which is worth £9.2m, was officially signed in May 2015 (here) and will add another 17,000+ premises to the total.

The good news is that we can now confirm precisely which communities will benefit from second deployment contract (see below the quote).

Councillor Diana Meale, Chair of Economic Development Committee, said:

“I am delighted that we are in a position to announce the towns and villages where we will be rolling out our next phase of the Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire programme, which is one of the largest and most ambitious infrastructure projects ever delivered in the county.

In many instances, people and businesses living in those towns and villages have been unable to access the online services, learning, communication and opportunities that many of us now take for granted – but not for much longer.

Digital connectivity is vital to future economic prosperity of Nottinghamshire. With 98% fibre coverage in the county by 2018, our county is at the forefront of digital connectivity in the UK, putting us in pole position to attract the growth and jobs that good broadband will support.”

Take note that the following roll-out plan for the Phase 2 BBfN contract is tentative and thus subject to change (i.e. unexpected problems can occur when engineers begin the physical deployment process, although in other cases the roll-out may also go more quickly than planned).

Phase 2 BBfN Deployment Plan

Ashfield: Annesley, Sutton in Ashfield and Selston

Bassetlaw: Barnby Moor, Beckingham, Beckingham , Blyth, Bole, Bothamsall, Carlton in Lindrick, Cottam, East Markham, Eaton, Elkesley, Gamston, Harworth Bircotes, Haughton, Holbeck, Lound, Marnham, Misson, Misterton, Normanton on Trent , Norton, Rampton, Rhodesia, Scaftworth, Shireoaks, South Leverton, Styrrup with Oldcotes, Sutton, Treswell, Tuxford, Welbeck and West Drayton

Broxtowe: Beeston, Eastwood, Greasley, Nuthall, Strelley, Trowell, Watnall and Bestwood

Gedling: Burton Joyce, Calverton, Lambley, Papplewick, Ravenshead and Stoke Bardolph.

Mansfield: Forest Town, Mansfield, Shirebrook and Warsop.

Newark and Sherwood: Balderton, Barnby in the Willows, Besthorpe, Bilsthorpe, Bleasby, Blidworth, Caunton, Caythorpe, Clipstone, Collingham, Eakring, Edingley, Edwinstowe, Egmanton, Farnsfield, Girton, Fiskerton cum Morton, Gunthorpe, Halam, Harby, Hockerton, Holme, Kilvington, Kirklington, Kneesall , Laxton and Moorhouse, Lindhurst, Newark, North Clifton, Norwell, North Muskham, Ollerton and Boughton, Ompton, Ossington, Oxton, Rolleston, Rufford, South Clifton, South Muskham, South Scarle, Spalford, Staythorpe, Syerston, Sutton-on-Trent, Thurgarton, Weston and Wigsley.

Rushcliffe: Aslockton, Bingham, Car Colston, Colston Bassett, Cotgrave, East Bridgford, East Leake, Elton-on-the-Hill, Flintham, Granby, Hawksworth, Hickling, Keyworth, Kingston on Soar, Kinoulton, Normanton on Soar, Orston, Owthorpe, Radcliffe on Trent, Ruddington, Scarrington, Shelford and Newton, Shelton, Sibthorpe, Stanford on Soar, Sutton Bonington, Thrumpton, Tollerton, Whatton, Whatton-in-the-Vale and Widmerpool

The new deployment also includes some lot of infill (i.e. FTTC/P extensions in communities where the service has already been partly deployment). For example, Lilley Close in Selston is currently the only street in the village still to be provided with access to “fibre broadband”, but that will be fixed with today’s plan.

Meanwhile the Bassetlaw villages of Bothamsall, Normanton-on-Trent and Lound will see some of the strongest area-specific coverage, with 95% of premises being put within reach of the service. Similarly the coverage in Strelley (Broxtowe) will increase from less than 10% today to more than 80% under contract two.

Most of the investment for Phase 2 will come from public sources, although we know that BT has also contributed capex of around £1 million to the project. Mind you there is the usual question over what proportion of that 98% total will actually be put within reach of “superfast” (24Mbps+) speeds.