BT Start GBP1.1m Fibre Broadband Rollout to More Rutland Villages

Residents of four villages in the small rural England county of Rutland, including Barleythorpe, Bisbrooke, Braunston and Pickworth, will be pleased to know that BTOpenreach has begun the expansion of their faster “fibre broadband” (FTTC) network to 900 premises in the area.

Apparently the local work will also include a further expansion of FTTC coverage in a number of other locations, including Barnsdale, Burley, Egleton, Gunthorpe, Little Casterton, Pilton, Ridlington, Ryhall, Tickencote, Tinwell, Tolethorpe and Wardley. Once completed the network coverage in Rutland should have reached around 94.6% of local homes and businesses.

Most of the £1.1m funding for this phase appears to have come from cost “savings” created during the first phase of deployment (here), which we were told last year reflected “a combination of savings through project efficiency measures and the deployment of cheaper technologies in areas that didn’t require more expensive methods to deliver superfast speeds.” The Broadband Delivery UK programme has also allocated £180,000 to the pot.

Terry King, Local Councillor, said:

“When the Council and BT first embarked on Digital Rutland in 2012, we couldn’t have predicted just how successful the programme would be. Four years later, Rutland is leading the way in the UK with more than 45 per cent of homes and businesses having already signed up to a fibre broadband package.

Once complete, this next phase of work will mean that around 95 per cent of premises in Rutland are able to connect to fibre broadband and enjoy all the benefits associated with faster internet speeds. We’re also exploring solutions for any remaining properties with the aim of ensuring that all homes and businesses in the County can access speeds of at least 2Mbps.”

At present BT’s Openreach engineers have only just begun the survey and planning phase, although the deployment of new fibre optic cables and street cabinets is expected to start shortly. Curiously there’s no mention of what has happened to the plans for Ashwell, Cottesmore, Empingham, Exton, Oakham, Normanton and Whissendine, which were mentioned last year when the extension contract was first announced.

Further details can be found on the Digital Rutland website and work is also on-going to try and find a solution for the remaining 5% of local premises.