BT Infinity Superfast Broadband Update at January 2012

Folks,

You may have noticed contractors working by the roadside. They are installing fibre to beside the cabinet and laying the concrete plinth for the fibre cabinet. They have confidence in meeting an end of March 2012 deadline (subject to not being disrupted by bad weather). The BT Openreach engineers should have leaflets on Superfast to hand out.

Now is the time to register your interest in Superfast Broadband and this doesn't commit you to Superfast or even BT but BT will contact you in due course over the available services under Superfast Broadband and the actual date when you can place an order. I am also negotiating with BT for their Infinity demonstration bus to come to the area so you can see more about the service and talk to the staff about Superfast, its facilities and costs - I'll update you shortly on the dates for this.

BT tend to install their fibre street cabinet initially with about 30% of the total capacity and increase this as actual orders come in. As I expect over 50% of Innerleithen to switch to Superfast I would advise everyone to register their interest NOW so that BT can plan their cabinet capacity. Otherwise those who register their interest/order later may have to wait for Superfast until after installation when the cabinet is upgraded with additional equipment. As always you should check prices and availability with your existing ISP and/or other ISPs for cost comparison - do be careful that the ISP is talking about Superfast Broadband. An ISP has to install additional equipment in the BT exchange for Superfast and an unscrupulous salesman may try to pass you off with standard Broadband.

You can register at www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?topicId=25795

It'll show you the speed you can expect and the go live date - we suspect that BT Infinity are being cautious with the date of 30th June 2012 to allow for any implementation slippage and hopefully this date will come forward. Do remember there is a drop off in speed from the street cabinet due to the physical length of the cable wire running from the cabinet into your house so for example those of us fortunate enough to be closest to the cabinet may get close to 30Mbps download and 10Mbps upload whereas those farther away from the cabinet may receive about 15Mbps download and over 2Mbps upload. These speeds are of course orders of magnitude faster than at present. In my case, 33 times faster on download and 50 times faster on upload - I think I'm happy with that.

You can check your current speed with Think Broadband Speedtest - www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest.html?utm_source=mainsite&utm_medium=navigation&utm_campaign=speedtest&utm_content=sidebar

Monthly costs are shown on another page - www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?topicId=25633&s_cid=con_ppc_maxus_vidZ59_Broadband&vendorid=Z473&sissr=1

If you have any questions/comments please get back to me. Please distribute to as many people as possible.

Regards
Brian McCrow
1 Cardrona Way
Cardrona
EH45 9LD
01896 833188
07712 841768

BT Superfast Broadband updated at 30/11/12

At a time when organisations around the UK are seeking investment partners to bring super-fast technologies to their areas and give them a competitive edge, Innerleithen has shot straight to the forefront of Digital Britain making them the best connected community in Scotland. BT is investing thousands of man hours in this upgrade and installing 112 kilometres of fibre to give Innerleithen one of the highest percentages of fibre coverage to be found anywhere in the UK.

99.4% of households and businesses in Innerleithen will see an increase in speed, while 96.4% will have speeds topping 15Mbps. 3% will receive between 2Mbps and 15Mbps. The 0.6% represents 11 premises in remote locations towards the very North of the district. And fibre speeds are set to get even faster next year with FTTC roughly doubling from up to 40Mbps to up to 80Mbps and FTTP soaring to up to 300Mbps. Innerleithen will not only benefit from fibre to the cabinet super-fast broadband (FTTC) – the type that is currently being rolled out in Scotland – but will be the first in Scotland for fibre to the premises super-fast broadband (FTTP) which boasts even faster speeds.
Innerleithen was the only Scottish town to win BT's Race to Infinity – a UK wide competition for Superfast Broadband.

Openreach, BT's local network division, is currently carrying out overnight engineering works in the district and is on track to be ready to accept orders for super-fast broadband services in Innerleithen from March 2012.

For further information please contact the BT Scotland press office on 0800 085 0660 or locally Brian McCrow, Community Campaign Organiser, 1 Cardrona Way, Cardrona EH45 9LD 01896 833188, 07712 841768, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Technical notes:

1. Openreach will lay large fibre pipes along the A72 from Innerleithen to the Peebles exchange where the back haul equipment will be installed with links up to Edinburgh and thence into the UK broadband networks. This fibre cable will be "squirted" down the existing duct along the A72 however the engineers may be required to dig up the ground to clear the blockage. This work will be carried out at night to minimise any traffic disruption.
2. The Innerleithen exchange will not be involved in this Superfast Broadband implementation and service but will continue for the existing phone and slow broadband services. Properties within Innerleithen who are currently directly connected to the Innerleithen exchange will have a new direct connection via FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) from the Peebles exchange. These are mainly along the High Street and will require a physical fibre connection to be made into their premises. There will be some disruption along the High Street while the fibre cable is laid but this will be minimised as far as possible by flexible working hours.
3. Other properties are currently connected via a street cabinet and will not require any connection into their premises as it will continue to be via the existing copper line. However, a new fibre termination cabinet will be installed alongside the existing street cabinet in order to link the new fibre to the existing copper lines. These will require planning approval and your Community Council will ensure that they fit well within the street.
4. Cardrona will take fibre links from the A72 fibre cable to the new street cabinet next to the existing copper cabinet across from the A72. This will cover all of the properties built after 1999. BT have employed another first in this implementation by switching other properties in the Cardrona area onto this cabinet so they will enjoy faster speeds than if they remained connected to their existing street cabinet, which is further away from their properties. All Cardrona properties will enjoy greater than 15Mbps.
5. The final connection to Superfast Broadband will not be automatic as users have to sign up either with BT Retail or another ISP. It is suggested that users contact their ISP to determine if they will commit to putting equipment in the Peebles exchange in support of Superfast Broadband.
6. As any example of the costs of Superfast Broadband check with this BT Retail price - www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?topicId=25633&s_cid=con_ppc_maxus_vidZ59_Broadband&vendorid=Z473&sissr=1
7. Superfast Broadband should open up possibilities for extra facilities such as BT Vision - www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?topicId=25634&s_cid=con_ppc_maxus_vidSP4_Vision&vendorid=SP4&sissr=1
8. Roll-out schedule:
Orders for Superfast Broadband can be placed before the end of March 2012
The A72 spine and FTTC cabinets will be installed December 2011 to March 2012
FTTP for 10% of the Innerleithen properties, December 2011 till July 2012

As with all implementation it is best to place orders as early as possible so that plans and equipment orders can be finalised in time for your personal service requirements.