Community Action Suffolk continues to regularly attend the Suffolk Broadband and Digital Connectivity Working Group hosted by Suffolk County Council.
This meeting provides us an opportunity to feedback concerns we hear from your communities but also to hear the very latest plans and updates and how the Better Broadband for Suffolk scheme is running.
Highlights – up to end of Dec 2019
- 96.12% of Suffolk premises currently able to receive superfast broadband – speeds greater than that of 24mbps (An increase of 0.13% from the previous quarter)
- 96500 premises currently able to receive superfast broadband
- 4.3% of properties able to receive FTTP (Fibre to the Premise – speeds of around 300mbps)
- 68.36% take up of Fibre Broadband
- The second contract which will take coverage up to around 98% of properties is due to finish in the summer of this year and is ahead of target
- A Third contract has now been agreed and deployment work will start on this as soon as contract 2 finishes.
- The third contract won’t deliver 100% of properties but will get us closer to the stated desire of Suffolk County Council
- Suffolk Cloud Broadband Network working in 10 towns across Suffolk to improve broadband coverage in public sector buildings such as schools, council buildings etc
- 5G Mobile connectivity – There is a commissioned piece of work which has just started to look at the roll out of 5g mobile connectivity in Suffolk. It’s in it’s early stages and depending on the appetite of the providers may still take 1-2 years for the first locations to come online with 5g connectivity.
FAQ’s
How do I check whether I can get or when I will be able to get Superfast Fibre Broadband?
Visit www.betterbroadbandsuffolk.com and use the “Can you connect” menu item along the top and then follow the instructions on the page
I’m a business and really need better connectivity – what can i do?
There is a voucher scheme available for businesses in rural areas, where they can get up to £3,500 towards the installation of a “full fibre” solution i.e. one from the exchange to the business premise. This may pay for the whole of the installation but in some cases may not – in this scenario you would need to pay the balance. Please visit the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme page to find out more. This has been a very under publicised scheme so please make use of it. If you want to join together with a pool of businesses then you can pool your vouchers if the cost to install Fibre is high in a particular location.
Beyond Community Action Suffolk – how else do i found out about what Suffolk County Council are doing?
You can subscribe to the Suffolk County Council newsletter or you can view their previous newsletters at https://betterbroadbandsuffolk.com/about/subscribe-to-our-newsletter
Can communities assist in any way?
“Self-dig” schemes where a local land owner or farm owner digs the trenches where Fibre cabling is required to go is one away of communities working together to get Superfast broadband in their area. Suffolk County Council are very receptive to these types of schemes so if you know a local land owner or farmer and you know that Superfast broadband is unlikely to come to your property then a self-dig scheme may be a good option for your community. Please visit https://www.betterbroadbandsuffolk.com/alternative-options/self-dig-schemes for more information around these.
Matthew Morling, IT Manager
[email protected]
01473 345321
