FTTC Broadband for 190 Businesses in the Beddington Industrial Area

A new partnership between Openreach (BT) and Beddington’s Business Improvement District (BID) team will result in around 190 businesses within the industrial area of Croydon (London) gaining access to an ‘up to’ 80Mbps Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) broadband service.

At present most premises in the area are hobbled by slow ADSL2+ based copper line broadband connectivity, with many struggling to get much above 2-10Mbps of download speed. The only other option would be an expensive leased line connection, but that often isn’t viable for smaller businesses.

The new development, which involves an upgrade of three local Street Cabinets, appears to be another one of BT’s co-funded Community Fibre Partnerships. Under this model local residents and businesses are asked cover any costs that rise above those of Openreach’s own commercial model for upgrading the area; 50% of the gap funding must be paid prior to work starting, with the final 50% on completion.

The community approach is usually used in areas that won’t benefit from another upgrade programme and this seems to fit well with Business Improvement Districts (there are a total of 42 in London), where local businesses similarly club together in order to pool their resources and cover the cost of local improvements.

Peter Whitehead, Chairman of the Beddington BID, said:

“The BID Board have been in successful talks with Openreach, resulting in this exciting solution. The Beddington BID team recognised the demand for faster broadband speeds by many local firms in the area and the long term business benefits. Superfast broadband is becoming a ‘must have’ item in developments across London, so this partnership will make the Beddington Industrial Area a hugely appealing place for companies to conduct their business.”

Andrew Campling, BT’s General Manager for London, added:

“This community partnership is great news for the area. It is the latest development in our continuing drive to make faster internet access as widely available as possible. The faster broadband speeds will make the local businesses even more competitive, helping to secure and grow local employment opportunities.”

Openreach are currently in the process of making their “fibre available” (FTTC/P) services available to a further 360,000 homes and businesses in London over the next couple of years, which should push coverage to around 95%. Sadly the Beddington industrial area doesn’t appear to have been on the list for that, hence the community approach.

Sadly we aren’t told how much the work will cost, although something in the low tens of thousands might not be unrealistic; depending upon how much fibre optic cable needs to be laid, the availability of an adequate power supply and the size of cabinet used etc. The first businesses should be able to use the service from sometime in 2017, although we aren’t given a solid date (it usually takes around +/- 12 months).