Spooner Row Message Board

Fibre to the premises is currently being rolled out locations that get 10mbps or less, new builds should be pre installed now, if your getting more than that your not a priority.

This is the reply I got. 

I'm sorry to advise you that there are no upgrades currently planned via Better Broadband for Norfolk.

To explain, Better Broadband for Norfolk is based on achieving maximum coverage for the available funding.  To achieve maximum coverage, the cost to implement a specific fibre solution is divided by the number of properties that will benefit, creating a cost per premises.   This is why there are currently no plans for an upgrade.

Other schemes have been announced that will improve broadband coverage across rural Norfolk, but these are still in the early stages:

• At the end of March 2021 the government announced Project Gigabit, a new programme to provide gigabit broadband to hard to reach homes and businesses, with Norfolk being one of the first phases. Unfortunately this will not be a quick process, starting with market review and procurement phases before the actual work to build infrastructure commences. The review and procurement phases have already begun, but are likely to take up to another 9 months, with the actual build then taking several years to complete after this. Until the initial phases of this work are complete we do not know the exact properties that will be included, other than it will be a significant number of rural properties in Norfolk. It may be worth checking back later in the year for an update on the progress of this project.

• There are also commercial announcements being regularly announced. In July 2021 Openreach announced significant investment in Norfolk. The following link gives more details:
  Where and when we're building Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband | Openreach
  Unfortunately this does not yet give any specific dates, other than a December 2026 completion of all red areas. It is also unlikely to cover 100% of properties within each exchange area.

I note that your current download speed is low. It may be worth investigating the following options:

• The Government has introduced a new Gigabit Voucher scheme.  The scheme is for rural premises which will be eligible for up to £3,500 per small and medium-sized businesses (SME) and up to £1,500 per resident to support the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections (Ultrafast).  
  https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/

• The Government has introduced a Broadband Universal Service commitment, which from 2020 allows people to request a minimum download speed of at least 10Mbps. This link provides more detail:
  https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/broadband-uso-need-to-know

• Other suppliers may be able to provide services outside of the various government sponsored schemes and projects. Alternate internet providers such as County Broadband are working in some parts of the county and Openreach also operate a Community Fibre Partnership scheme. Other providers may be available, the links below have more details of the two I have mentioned.
  https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/community-fibre-partnerships
  https://countybroadband.co.uk/

• 4G based broadband service. Even if you have poor mobile coverage in your area there are solutions available that may be able to help. As an authority we have successfully deployed a 4G product from a company called SimRush. SimRush install an omni directional antenna that is able to give good download speed, even in areas of poor 4G coverage:
  https://www.simrush.com

Other companies may be available.

Regards

Mark Churchill

LFFN Project Manager

Norfolk County Council