Why do we need to look at the Gigafast Project?
Marshfield has always been behind the times when it comes to broadband. Despite having FTTC (Fibre to the cabinet) many people work from home, or are finding themselves where they have to now work from home and require a better connection for their internet.
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If you're finding yourself asking how it could be better I have explained the best way forward for us.
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As it stands in Marshfield the cabinet space has been used up which means we cant add any more new connections from the cabinet to the premise.
This solution means the connection doesn't have to go to the cabinet at all, and means you can get the connection straight to your home. It will also provide us with next generation speeds.
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The Product: FTTPOD - Fibre to the premise on demand.
This product installs the infrastructure for a product called Fibre to the premise directly into your home. This is not a phone line. This is purely a glass internet line and will come into your home as a separate socket. For your landline (0122589X number) you will need to keep this on a standard phone line with your provider. There will be options available to transfer this to a different type of service if you wish.
Don't we already have fibre?
The current offering for most of the village is Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC). This is where Fibre runs to the green cabinets around the village, and from there our standard copper phone lines make the way into our homes.
Most of the capabilities of fibre are lost when the copper wires of our phone lines are introduced. The average Fibre to the cabinet speeds (BT Infinity, Sky Fibre etc) The speed starts at 80MB download and 20MB upload and this drops on both upload and download the further you are from the cabinet.
Copper cables are also subject to interference from multiple sources. Weather, wildlife and external damage. A damaged FTTC circuit can perform intermittently, making it very hard to diagnose and prove it is damaged.
An FTTP connection is consistent speed that is not reduced. Because of this the offering from FTTP is more stable and does not suffer from reduced speeds depending on the line length.
Performance wise, FTTC has a max download capability of 80MB. Where as the current standard speed from FTTP(OD) is 330MB download. The limit in this scenario is the hardware at the origin of the connection. Theoretically the speed can be up to 10GB if the service provider has the right equipment at their end.
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What is the difference between the FTTP and the FTTPOD Offering?
OD stands for on demand. This gives us the opportunity to privately approach openreach and access government grants to make the install of the FTTP network happen sooner.
As an example there is currently a survey occurring on the high street for a potential FTTPOD customer.
The customer will register and could receive a government grant for £1,500 for a resident wanting to receive FTTPOD. The install is estimated at approximately £9,000.00 for this one user.
HOWEVER..
Once installed this installation enables FTTPOD for approximately 30 other houses in the high street. Following this example if 5 of those properties applied for the service and the government grant then there would be no installation cost. Businesses get a grant of £3,500 towards a FTTPOD installation.
In short if we can get enough traction in the community and enough ambassadors informing their neighbours we could be looking at a n0 install cost for upgrading the village.
So what is the catch?
FTTPOD services are more expensive for the first year. They would be approximately £100.00 a month plus VAT for a 330MB connection.
After 12 months the network would become part of the regular Openreach network for everyone. This would mean customers could renew their service with anyone providing regular FTTP.
For example Zen offer the following prices and speeds in areas already enabled with FTTP
80/20 (Mirror of FTTC specification) @ £38.99 PCM
300/30 Mirror of FTTPOD specification @ £59.99
The above prices are currently competitive.
How Can I Help Get This Started?
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Here at Marshfield Broadband we are an ambassador for Openreach and are able to add registrations together and build a Fibre solution for Marshfield Community.
If it's something you like to help build please register your details HERE.
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The more people we get the better this will be.