{"id":34804,"date":"2023-06-21T17:14:47","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T16:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=34804"},"modified":"2023-06-21T17:18:47","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T16:18:47","slug":"openreach-slowly-nears-completion-of-devon-and-somerset-fttp-rollout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2023\/06\/openreach-slowly-nears-completion-of-devon-and-somerset-fttp-rollout.html","title":{"rendered":"Openreach Slowly Nears Completion of Devon and Somerset FTTP Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

The state aid supported Connecting Devon and Somerset<\/a> (CDS) programme in England has today issued a progress update on their \u00a36m Fibre Extension Programme (FEP) contract with Openreach<\/a> (BT<\/a>), which was originally due to cover 2,000 rural premises with Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP<\/a>) broadband by the end of 2021.<\/p>\n

The contract, which mostly harnesses public investment that was returned by operators as a result of high take-up under earlier contracts (gainshare \/ clawback), was first reveal all the way back in July 2020 (here<\/a>). As part of that, Openreach<\/a> agreed to extend their gigabit-capable full fibre broadband ISP network to cover another 2,000 premises in rural areas by the end of 2021 (later slightly extended to reach a further 100 homes).<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> Openreach is also contributing some funding toward the programme, but a solid figure has not been revealed.<\/div>\n

According to today\u2019s update, the operator has now reached “more than<\/em>” 1,800 of the contracted premises (up from around 1,500 a year ago). Full Fibre is thus now ready for service for around 550 homes and businesses in parts of Dulverton and the surrounding area, more than 420 premises in the area south of Tiverton, just over 100 premises in the parish of Bickleigh and Wotter, over 80 in Kentibury Ford, more than 80 in Widecombe-in-the-Moor and more than 70 in East Blue Anchor. Other areas included in the build which also have access to live connectivity are parts of Coffinswell, Combeinteignhead, Lane End, Satterleigh and Watermouth.<\/p>\n

However, the build remains ongoing in a number of areas, including parts of Combe Martin, Dulverton, Lydeard St Lawrence, Shaugh Prior, South Molton, Washford and Wiveliscombe.<\/p>\n

Rob Hanrahan, Specialist Technical Fibre Manager for Openreach, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve been working closely with CDS to roll out fibre to deeply rural parts of Devon and Somerset. Bickleigh was a unique case because of its remote location. Building a new spine would have been cost-prohibitive, so we used Subtended Headends<\/a> to make the build possible. A SHE is like a mini-exchange; it avoids the need for disruptive traffic management and it\u2019s more cost-effective. Considering how difficult the build is, everything\u2019s gone really well.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sadly, long-delays to completion targets do seem to be a fairly common feature of many current and past CDS projects, so we perhaps shouldn’t be too surprised that this one is taking a long time to finish either. The example of Bickleigh in Mid-Devon is a good one for highlighting some of the challenges involved.<\/p>\n

In order to provide FTTP<\/a> to around 300 premises in the community, Openreach engineers had to ensure their build crossed the historic Grade Two listed Bickleigh Bridge. The site is busy with traffic and is prone to flooding, which are just two of the many obstacles their teams have faced in recent months. There’s even a video..<\/p>\n