Q. When will I get superfast broadband?
A. It depends. We plan to roll out super fast fibre to two-thirds of the UK by the end of 2014. If your local exchange is part of the plans, once it's upgraded it, we'll let our customers – the country's communications providers – know. They'll then be able to start selling superfast fibre broadband services to homes and businesses. You can view the rollout programme on an exchange by exchange basis here. Don't lose heart if you don't see your exchange on the list now. We announce a new batch of exchanges every three months. Yours could well be amongst the list of exchanges in the next release.
Q. How do you decide which exchange areas get superfast fibre?
A. Working closely with our customers, we consider various criteria. They include population density, likely demand, the layout of our existing network, the cost of deployment and, obviously, the potential return on our investment.
Q. Why is it taking so long for you to upgrade your network?
A. It's a massive project and we need to do a lot of work in local exchanges and with green cabinets up and down the UK. We're also overlaying part of our existing copper network with fibre (the part between exchanges and green cabinets). It's logistically impossible to do this work in one fell swoop. That's why we've invested in a rolling programme to upgrade the network.
Q. I've been told that the cabinet my home is connected to isn't able to deliver superfast broadband. Is that it for me?
A. Not necessarily. We're looking at solutions to overcome the technical limitations of some cabinets. For example, it may well be that we'll be able to by-pass your cabinet altogether and install pure fibre route from your home or office to the exchange. If that course of action proves to be an economically viable proposition for us, your communications provider could well be offering you download speeds of up to 100Mbit/s in the future!
Q. What's the difference between Fibre to the Premises and Fibre to the Cabinet?
A. Fibre to the Premises is a pure fibre connection from your home to the exchange, delivering download speeds of 100Mbit/s. Fibre to the Cabinet provides a fibre path between the cabinet near you and the exchange. But the final leg uses the existing copper network between your home and the cabinet. This will still deliver much faster speeds than are available today (up to 40Mbit/s now, rising to 80Mbit/s during 2012).
Q. How do you decide where you're going to put a new superfast cabinet?
A. New cabinets are located as close as possible to existing cabinets and always within 100m of them. We carefully consider various factors, such as safety (to pedestrians and other road users), visual impact, the security of adjacent properties, and ease of access for installation and maintenance.
Q. Do you need planning permission for a new cabinet?
A. Planning permission is not usually required, unless it's in a national park, conservation area and other area of special interest. You legislation states: Under Part 24 of the Town & Country Planning Act BT as a Code Operator has deemed planning permission to install Cabinets so no notification at the planning stage is required in most cases under this piece of legislation. However if the Cabinet is to be installed in Article 1 (5) land i.e. National Parks , Conservation Areas etc then a Prior Notification application must be sent to the Local Planning Authority (LPA).
Q. I represent a local group and want to know when superfast fibre broadband will be available in our area. Who do we contact?
A. We'd be delighted to talk to you to understand your needs and proposed approach to creating a business case. If investment is coming from public subsidy, we would expect to be one of a number of bidders, as part of an open tender. Even so, we'd still be happy to advise on the potential for delivering superfast fibre broadband over a fixed line network. Whether or not you have secured funding for such a project, feel free to contact us at ngb@openreach.co.uk.
Q. I'm a councillor. I'm getting more and more complaints from my constituents about where you're installing your new superfast fibre cabinets. Is there any process in place to tell me about this kind of thing in advance?
A. When we select an area for a network upgrade, we make every effort to brief the relevant authority via the Chief Executive's office and their regeneration/planning departments. We also provide literature and naturally keep in close contact during the actual installation process.
Q. Why are your cabinets painted green?
A. We order them that way from the manufacturer. If a council planning team requests another colour, perhaps to match the special character of an area or to blend in with existing street furniture, we'll consider it. However, we'll only agree to change the colour of our cabinets in exceptional circumstances.
Q. I live in a rural location. I can't even get a decent broadband speed now. Will I ever get superfast broadband?
A. The cost of extending our fibre network beyond cities and large towns is huge. As a business, we have to recoup such costs. In areas where the take-up of superfast broadband is likely to be comparatively small, we would be forced to charge our customers a premium for providing the required access. They would obviously expect you to pay a similar premium. In short, the cost to you would be prohibitive. This hasn't prevented us from exploring the challenges of upgrading our network in rural areas. We're doing precisely that in Radstock near Bath and at Yaxley in Cambridgeshire. However, the reality is that it could well take a government subsidy to bring superfast broadband to you.
Q. Are there any alternatives for rural areas?
A. Yes. We've developed Broadband Enabling Technology for this eventuality. It could help nearly 1.7 million households to experience broadband speeds of up to 2Mbit/s for the first time. Not earth-shattering, but a likely improvement on where they are now. This technology is already being tested by 1,000 people served by 80 'rural' telephone exchanges around the country and it's working well. If we're able to secure external funding for Broadband Enabling Technology, we should be in a position to start roll it out across the countryside.
Q. Who can I talk to locally about working together to generate funding for the deployment of superfast fibre broadband?
A. The organisations involved in this vary from area to area. As a first step, we suggest making contact with your local authority, as they will be better placed to suggest who to speak to.