Essex Names First Areas to Benefit from Future Fibre Broadband Rollout

The Superfast Essex project in England, which a few months ago announced that its contract with BT would be extended to push “superfast fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) services out to 95% of the region (55,000 extra premises), has today unveiled the first areas to benefit. The deployment date has also been brought forward by a year.

At present the first Broadband Delivery UK based contract only aims to make BT’s “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network available to 87% of local premises by the end of summer 2016 (benefitting 65,000 homes and businesses) and 42,000 of that target has already been completed (this equates to a total of 623,000 premises when you include BT’s separate commercial roll-out).

However the new Superfast Extension Programme (SEP) contract, which was signed in March 2015 (here), will add another 55,000 to that total. The new roll-out deal had originally been due to start in 2017 and run until 2020, although this has now been moved forward so it will begin immediately after the first phase 1 contract completes and run until mid-2019.

Apparently some of the first areas to benefit from the second contract are as follows. As usual this is a tentative plan and subject to change.

Essex’s BDUK Phase 2 (SEP Contract) Rollout Areas from 2016

• Tendring – Weeley, Great Bentley, Wix, Wrabness, parts of Harwich and Dovercourt.

• Colchester – Dedham Heath, Great Tey, Tiptree Heath and Copford.

• Braintree – Kelvedon, Cressing, Foxearth, Sturmer, Helions Bumpstead and Easthorpe.

Take note that this excludes Gigaclear’s new contract in Essex, which will benefit 4,500 premises in the Epping Forest area (here).