Openreach Fibre Q&As

Please see the ‘delivery date’ column in the table below.

To allow work to proceed on Fibre Cable/Openreach projects, there will be a number of temporary road closures for:

• Badbury Lane and Berricot Lane, Badbury.
  • Traffic to be diverted via Medbourne, B4192, The Ridgeway, A346 Marlborough Road and vice versa.
  • The Order will come into force on the 19 October 2022 for 6 months but it is anticipated the road closure will take place on the 19 and 28 October 2022 only.
• Badbury Lane, Badbury, Swindon
  • Traffic to be diverted via Butts Road, A346 Marlborough Road, The Ridgeway and vice versa.
  • The Order will come into force on the 31 October 2022 for 6 months but it is anticipated the road closure will be in place between the 31 October to 4 November 2022.
• Meadow Way, Swindon.
  • Access for Residents to be maintained.
  • Traffic to be diverted via Medbourne Road, B4192 Purley Road and A419 Marlborough Road.
  • The Order will come into force on the 7 November 2022 for 6 months but it is anticipated the road closure will take place on the 7 and 16 November 2022 only.
• Unnamed road between Badbury Lane and A346 Marlborough Road, Badbury, Swindon
  • Traffic to be diverted via A346 Marlborough Road, The Ridgeway, B4192 Purley Road, Medbourne Lane, Medbourne Road and vice versa.
  • The Order will come into force on the 10 October 2022 for 6 months but it is anticipated the road closure will take place on the 10 and 19 October 2022 only.

For full details, please view or download the pdfs below:

STR000413 public notice

STR000414 public notice

STR000415 public notice

STR000417 public notice

CHISELDON

• Hodson Road – quite a few homes now have service but traffic management booked for 19/9 for five days to finish the remaining 29 properties on that patch – this also includes the Curnicks and the homes should be commissioned by 30/9 with service available soon after.
• New Road, Mays Lane, Turnball were being done this week to get ready to commission.
• Draycott Foliat – works being done 12/9 – only three premises left to connect.
• Ladysmith / Sambre Road – could be a little longer as having to work around areas they can’t access.
• Burderop Barns – awaiting survey – should be completed by the end of the month.

BADBURY

• 10th to 16th November road closures in a number of places to do road works.

We have been claiming vouchers as and when builds are confirmed as completed. There are still some parts left to do as per the last updates from Ashley and Bas but the teams are working hard to get these completed as quickly as possible. Regrettably for these properties we can’t extend the current vouchers any further. There’s no cause for alarm, the funding approval is still in place and instead we will need to request replacement vouchers. The team will be writing to each voucher holder with the message below.

*** Email to be sent ***

Hello,

Your Voucher is about to expire and we would like to take action to ensure that the contribution your voucher makes to the project can continue to count. When we reached an agreement with your community to build the full fibre network we issued a voucher to you and you validated this, it was valid for 12 months. Unfortunately due to the challenging nature of building network in rural and harder to reach areas, our build is taking a bit longer to complete. Due to these challenges we need more time on your voucher to complete our build and so as per the terms of the scheme we are going to cancel and re-request your voucher on your behalf. This means that you will see an new request for validation come through and we would request that you validate the voucher once again once the email from the DCMS arrives.

The email you will need to validate will come from gigabit.vouchers@notifications.service.gov.uk.

Please rest assured that the delivery of your community project remains a priority for us and we are fully committed to completing the build and ensuring that you will be able to order a new service over the full fibre network once it’s built. We hope that you are still committed to using the network once it’s ready and making the most of the benefits that ultrafast full fibre broadband can bring into your home or business.

If you have any questions around this please email us: fibrecommunitypartnerships@openreach.co.uk

Thanks

Fibre Community Partnership

Openreach

Web: openreach.co.uk

From Ward Cllr Gary Sumner 1st August 2022: We had our regular update meeting with Openreach earlier and 85% plus of Chiseldon is complete. Badbury to be completed under a couple of road closures October to November for new poles and ducts. Most of Central Chiseldon should be unlocked by end of August. Road closure required to finish but awaiting a permit.

We issued a UK Gigabit Voucher to your supplier on your behalf 11 months ago. Vouchers usually expire 12 months after the date of issue.
We have also written to Openreach today to tell them that unless they deliver the connection within 4 weeks, your voucher will be cancelled.
You should note that your voucher will be cancelled in 4 weeks, if no action is taken by your supplier.

It’s believed that this is an automated message from DCMS and does not affect the local scheme. The last meeting with Openreach was Monday 28th Feb and no concerns were shared over soon to be expired vouchers.

We met with the Civils (build) team earlier and we are sure that many of you will have seen Openreach vans and workers out there even on Sundays.

The position is that roughly 40% of each main village has what they call ‘ponds’ (areas of build) ready to connect to the exchange in Swindon.

In the Swindon exchange the planners are sitting with the scheme Clerk of Works and plotting the exchange route. In order to proceed to the next step they have to be sure each fibre has the correct connection at that end.

Once these areas are what they call ‘lit’ (live test of the fibre) then they go to commissioning (only a couple of days after the former step) and at that point residents who pledged a voucher will receive an email advising them to contact one of the 26 gigabit fibre providers. Because first connections are getting closer, our next update is on the 14th March. If things move faster we will be notified and will update you again.

Gary Sumner (updating for Wanborough, Liddington & Badbury & Neil Richardson updating for Chiseldon & Hodson.
There has been a delay at connecting both the Chiseldon and Wanborough schemes to the exchange but the build team have been making very good progress with building and testing in Chiseldon.

This means that when the connection is finally ready much more of the village/surrounding area will be ready to go.
So at the moment we are still on track to have the majority of Chiseldon up and running before the end of April.

We met with the project and civils teams this afternoon for an update on the Wanborough, Liddington and Chiseldon builds.

Generally:

Since our last update the build team have secured the right space in the Swindon exchange and routing work follows with engineers testing the fibre that has been laid and mapping it for their fibre ‘planning’ colleagues.
Once that is done they will start commissioning the first areas to be ready to go live from around 28/2.
Openreach will then email those residents to advise them to contact one of the companies listed as suitable providers. The build team will also try to remind residents and we will share the locations to assist. Your chosen supplier will then arrange for the final connection into your home. All being well some will have a connected service during March.

Chiseldon:

Much of the core areas off New Road are going to be among the first. Hosdon Road works can’t start until 12th April due to the Brimble Hill closure in Wroughton. Home Close already prepped via other routes.
Butts Road has 1300m of duct and cabinets to do so will be a bit after the main areas. Badbury is in Phase 2 so officially by August, but the build team say they plan to be finished long before then.
Homes around Cambrai Road will be later as there are challenges identifying a suitable route for the fibre. Issues with protected trees.

Wanborough:

Most core areas laid including the Beanlands, Magdalen Rd areas etc. Some queries on reinstatement works being addressed – had a senior Openreach exec visiting to look at damages to pavements, gardens etc and get rectified. Second phase homes West of Purley Road in Liddington will be earlier than August as per Badbury above.
We do have to remember that this is a couple of thousand homes being laid with fibre to connect back to the Swindon exchange – a whole new network. The teams are doing their best to meet and exceed targets and some residents in both areas will have gigabit speeds available via re-sellers during March.

Important Note:

Just to clarify that if you go onto those websites at present, they will not show your address as part of the scheme as that won’t happen until the fibre is commissioned.
Incredibly fast is not far away, so don’t sign new contracts until your connection is ready- then we can all start renegotiating telephone, broadband and tv services based on the new offer!

As usual if you have any specific worries contact Gary Sumner gary@ridgewayvillages.co.uk or Neil Richardson (for Chiseldon) neilrichardson1@icloud.com

We had an update meeting yesterday with the Openreach project manager to review progress and to get some answers to questions:

The main spine of the new fibre network is all in from Swindon to Wanborough/Liddington and Chiseldon.

Previously Openreach hoped to have some connections by Christmas, but this is now unlikely. The team went to the Swindon exchange expecting to use a number of sections which had been planned for our scheme, only to find that this has been used by someone else, so the Openreach ‘Planning team’ have to re-allocate space to our schemes within the exchange.

Once this work is done the engineers believe they could have the first 500 or so premises between the villages ready to ‘light up’ as capable of connecting. From the equipment being ready at the exchange to ‘ready to light up the fibre’ could be as little as 5 days work.

As soon as they get this within the exchange, Openreach advise the fibre retailers and will email residents to advise that connection to a service is possible. We will also be advised of the ‘live’ locations and would share that as a prompt. Residents would then sign up with a company and the final connection would be made to the property.

Once the network is live it will be possible for residents who didn’t pledge to be able to request a service and the companies will then get an estimate and provide a cost.

Work is ongoing and in Wanborough the sub-contractors are being watched closely as they have caused quite a few negative complaints.

In Chiseldon large areas are completed – they are working towards Draycott Foliat, but Hodson is done (still working on Hodson Road). In Badbury all premises will need new ducts and owners will be approached by Openreach for permission to dig.

Other answers to questions: If you have overhead lines then the fibre will go to the pole and then the final connection will be made when you sign up for a service. Openreach would then do this connection for that company.

Some asked why isn’t my pavement being dug up where others have been? There may already be suitable duct space available to use. Openreach surveyors know where all of the pledged premises are situated.

Phase 1 of the scheme (where pledges closed last May) will be built and completed by May 2022. Phase 2 (where pledges closed last August) will be built and completed by August, but Openreach will work to get this done sooner if possible.

Prompted by the activity in the village I’ve been contacted by quite a few people asking how to get on the list for fibre.
I asked Openreach for an official response, it is as follows…

“Thanks for getting in touch and expressing interest in the project. I am sorry to say that the scheme is now closed and we no longer have the ability to add residents to the list. Phase 2 was a mop up of the properties not included in Phase 1 and was the final piece of work, there are no further phases.
The good news is that you should be able to place an order for a new fibre service once the work has completed, should you wish to have this. However we can’t advise as to the possible connection charges (if any) as this would be given to you by your chosen Communications Provider once you have placed an order.”

Please note that registration for vouchers is still open and this link should be used for anyone still wanting to sign up. Connect my community (openreach.com)

I met with Openreach this morning together with Neil Richardson (who has been working with the Chiseldon residents) and we are pleased to confirm that we have now officially moved into the build phase of the project – we did it!

It is definitely happening!!!!

Gigabit Fibre is definitely coming to our two communities!

As many of you have seen Openreach engineers have been in the area finalising their plans for the rollout and we will learn over the coming weeks the timescales for delivery, we’ll share that info with you as soon as we can. In order to claim the voucher Openreach have a 12 month period before they expire and most were pledged late last year.

If you live in Wanborough & Liddington or Chiseldon you could still miss out if you haven’t pledged your voucher and for those who haven’t engaged, it may not be too late.
Go to https://www.openreach.com/connectmycommunity to pledge.

Households who haven’t pledged or been part of the scheme may have to pay to connect to the new network later so whilst there is still an opportunity to use the free Government vouchers of £1500 for a home or £3,500 for a business it makes sense to take part.

Neil and I continue to explore ways of getting the un-validated vouchers converted and letters will be going out to these people shortly, we are also looking at a method of validating vouchers by SMS instead of email. If you haven’t received your voucher please email me again as Openreach can access the vouchers again.

I would like to personally thank Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP who helped start this process from the first meeting he and I had with Openreach in April 2020 and celebrate the achievement through lockdown of promoting this! We have raised nearly £2m in pledges and Neil Richardson has been a fantastic advocate in Chiseldon, promoting and sharing the benefits, organising leaflets, as well as joining me on very regular briefings and workshops to achieve this.

Thank you to local printers (ESP Colour) who produced the Wanborough Leaflet for free and those helpers who did the deliveries.

This has also been a great community effort with many residents being Gigabit champions online and sharing the positive news with friends and neighbours, but please keep spreading the word to your friends/neighbours so nobody misses out.

We still have the other villages to address, and some missing streets and we are working on what can be attached to these schemes and what will have to be done separately under a new funding application.

Gary Sumner Neil Richardson Robert Buckland

I met with Openreach a few days ago together with Neil Richardson (a resident from Chiseldon who has helped enormously there with promoting this and creating the Chiseldon leaflets) and we wanted to provide a further update.

The 31st March deadline passed and for Wanborough the target was £982,917 and Chiseldon £1.128m.

Current position for Wanborough: Vouchers with a value of £862,500 were issued and £756,000 have been accepted.

Current position for Chiseldon: Vouchers with a value of £981,000 were issued and £790,500 have been accepted.

At the moment the Government department (DCMS) have re-opened the pledging portal so that new pledges can be made, and they have put an additional £210m into the scheme, however there is considerable demand for the funding so we need to get closer and quickly.

We need to establish who have still not received their vouchers as a good number are missing.

Unless you have done this before and have since received the voucher, please send a new email to me with:

Your name
Your address
When you pledged?
Was it a business or residential voucher?
Did you use the correct postcode?
Only one voucher is available per premises.

Email: gary@ridgewayvillages.co.uk

I will pass directly to Openreach, but do not anticipate that they will respond for 14 days until they have been through their validation process so no need to follow up for that period.

Openreach are waiting for the Government interface for vouchers to re-open so they can start re-sending vouchers to those who are missing vouchers – this is expected any day.

If the voucher issues has expired, Openreach will advise.

Because there is a limited pot of money, we must get our missing pledges confirmed and seek a sign off from Openreach by end of May.

AREAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE FIRST PHASE BID:

In the meantime, we are submitting all of the outstanding areas not included as Phase 2 applications in this years funding.

I have requested surveys on Bishopstone, Hinton Parva, Liddington (Medbourne & Church Road), Foxhill, Badbury, Russley Park. We are doing the same for the missed areas in Chiseldon. Each of the additional areas will be surveyed again as for example in Bishopstone a number of homes have been connected by BT and Openreach (a legally separate entity) only have visibility of what’s connected but not what is in process.

Ward Cllr Gary Sumner

During the recent leaflet drop we received feedback that people thought that if we move to fibre that BT would be supplying our broadband.

This is not the case, Openreach (who are no longer part of BT) will be supplying the fibre lines but you will have a choice of broadband provider (as you do now)…..here’s a list of the providers that will be available to us.

https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/fttp-providers

I’ve also just had a quick look at some of the deals available through the Topcashback site (other cash back sites are available) and depending who you choose it’s possible to get up to £90 back as a new customer signing up to basic fibre broadband on an 18 month contract

• How is the fibre optic cable run to my house?
• Openreach will run it via the existing route if possible. Where this is not possible, they will discuss options with you.
• What equipment is installed on my premises?
• Your existing BT socket (usually an NTE5) will become redundant and a newpiece of equipment will be installed into which the fibre optic cable will be connected. You will also need to provide mains power to thisequipment. An ethernet cable will connect between the fibreoptic network terminating equipment and any home hub/router provided by your supplier.
• Do I need any special equipment to take advantage of the higher speeds offered by Gigabit Broadband?
• If you are choosing up to 300mb/s you will be unlikely to need any extra equipment other than that provided by your supplier. To take full advantage of speeds of over 300mb/s you may need to think about using a wired connection between your home hub/router and a gigabit ethernet card/port on your PC/Laptop.
• I live x miles from the exchange,and I have awful speeds now. Will I really get up to a gigabit here?
• Fibre optic speed are not affected by distance to the exchange. If you purchase gigabit broadband, you’ll get synchronisation with the exchange at 1Gb/s!
• How/where can I pledge my voucher?
• Use this link: https://www.openreach.com/connectmycommunity and sign up using your postcode.

• This service sounds expensive. Is it?
• In most circumstances if taking a 100 mb/s package the cost is comparable if a tad more expensive than existing broadband packages. You can check prices via providers’ websites. If you are asked for a postcode B43 5NX has the same type of service available. You should look at a range of providers as some are markedly more expensive than others.
• I’m with but they don’t provide this service. What do I do?
• Not all providers offer Fibre to the Premises. If this is the case,you can sign up to a different provider and terminate your existing package. Please discuss with your existing provider to establish whether you are in contract or if there are any cancellation charges.
• What about my email address with ?
• It is generally a bad idea to use the email address provided with your broadband/internet connection as these often cease if you change providers. There are a number of free email providers (Gmail, Outlook most notably) that can be used with any broadbandprovider. You may wish to consider opening a free email account and moving to that over the next 12 months in case you want to change broadband provider at a later date.

• I’ve heard that Openreach are discontinuing the existing copper lines. Won’t we get FTTP then?
• Openreach have confirmed that they intend to discontinue copper lines to premises by around 2025. In some cases, such as Salisbury, the alternative technology chosen has been fibre optic lines to premises. https://www.openreach.com/digital-phone-lines That said, fibre optic is only one technology that may be used, and it is not guaranteed that Chiseldon will receive that in the future. It might be radio/5G instead whereas this scheme is 100% fibre optic; the current “gold standard” of internet provision.
• If gave me the service I pay for, we wouldn’t need this.
• The current technology being used for broadband via copper line in Chiseldon is ADSL2 which is limited in speed anyway; plus,the longer the copper line from the exchange, the poorer the speed received. As our reliance on the internet for work, entertainment (HD TV, 4K TV, 8K TV etc) and education increases, our demand for greater bandwidth increases. Imagine trying to load some of the media heavy websites of today on a 56kb/s modem which was “fine”20 years ago. Moving to fibre-optic broadband now provides future proofing for you, your family,and your propertyfor years to come.
• I only take a telephone service over the copper line, what about me?
• Your current provider will contact you closer to the copper line switch off date to discuss alternatives. A Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) can be provided over fibre optic cable if required. https://www.openreach.com/digital-phone-lines

• How much is my voucher worth?
• £1,500 per residential premises, £3,500 per business premises.
• Who ultimately pays for the voucher?
• This is a scheme run by the government’s department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport, so ultimately, the taxpayerpays.
• What is the target, and how has it been set?
• Approx £1,200,000 which is the cost of installing the scheme. Openreach has confirmed that the target is achievable (there are enough premises in the area to cover the scheme if they pledge) and not every premises would need to pledge their voucher for the scheme to reach the £1,200,000 target. 100% of the £1,200,000 target is needed for the scheme to go ahead.
• Is there a deadline?
• The existing voucher scheme ends on 31 March 2021.
• What happens if I pledge the voucher, but the scheme doesn’t go ahead?
• There is no cost to you or the Government.The existing voucher scheme ends on 31 March 2021 so you will lose the voucher after that date. Openreach will write to you if/when the scheme goes ahead and advise that they intend to claim your voucher. The voucher will be claimed by Openreach at that point. If the scheme does not go ahead, the voucher will not be claimed and you can pledge it elsewhere before 31 March 2021 if there is an alternative scheme available.
• Do I have to take a service if I pledge my voucher?
• Yes. You are required to take a service of a certain bandwidth for a minimum of 12 months with one of the suppliers that offer gigabit service. This does not necessarily need to be BT.
• What minimum speed must I take for the first 12 months?
• If your current speed is LESS THAN 30 mb/s, then you must take a MINIMUM of 30 mb/s, although you can take the full 1,000 mb/s if you want. If you’re currently receiving MORE THAN 30 mb/s then you are required to take a service of AT LEAST DOUBLE the existing speed. e.g. if you are getting 90 mb/s at present, you would need to take 180 mb/s or more.
• What happens if I pledge my voucher, but then don’t take a fibre-optic service?
• Your voucher claim will be ineligible, and you may be required to pay the value of the£1,500 or £3,500 voucher that you pledged.
• What happens if the target is not reached?
• The scheme may not go ahead as planned, it could be broken into smaller schemes and/or phased. The hope is that we get to the target to deliver to as many homes as possible

• Surely this is Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) not Fibre to the Premises (FTTP)?
• The rules of the government Gigabit voucher scheme require the connection to be capable of carrying 1Gb/s of data. FTTC is not capable of carrying that amount of data so this is 100% a Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) project.
• I live in Hodson / Burderop / Ridgeway View / Draycot Foliat, surely,they’re not included?
• Openreach have confirmed that these areas are included. If you put your postcode into the pledge portal and it says that you are eligible, then the project covers your area.
• What about Badbury?
• Openreach are looking at Badbury as a separate project and will communicate details of any scheme in due course.
• What works are included if I pledge my voucher?
• All installation costs other then any provider set up fee are covered by the scheme. If you do not pledge your voucher in this scheme, and later wish to take up a FTTP service, then you may be charged any excess charges to connect your premises from the nearest distribution point (if the distribution point is some way away, then these may be expensive!)
• How will the service be delivered to my premises? Will they need to dig up my drive/garden/the road etc?
• Openreach have surveyed existing ducts and will re-use those where possible. In most cases, this means that there will be little/no disruption to you or your property. Only where the ducts are unusable will any digging be required. Openreach will liaise with you if this is the case.
• My phone line is flown bya telephone pole. Will I need to have a trench dug to my house?
• No. Openreach will fly the fibre-optic cable from the existing telephone pole.

Two answers have now been added to the questions posed on 15th December .

• Scheme in discussion since April 2020. Helps communities not covered by a commercial program to get fibre if they wish.
• Connected over 800 communities using the Government vouchers so far. The funding is from the Gigabit scheme – £1500 for residents and £3500 for businesses.
• All eligible properties have had a leaflet through the door. The vouchers come from the Dept of Culture, Media and Sport.
• If your voucher is approved you are agreeing to take fibre contract for 12 months min from a provider on the Openreach network – Sky, BT, Vodaphone etc.
• If you currently get less than 30mbps then you agree to sign up for at least 30mbps and if you are over this you agree to sign up for a contract of double your current speed.
• When the pledge is reached the scheme moves to build stage. The background work has started and they would deliver within 12 months.
• Openreach supply to edge of property using the ultrafast gigabit service. You don’t have to take this speed but you can if you want to.

Q&A

• If the copper network is closed by 2025 does this mean that if the bid is not successful that landlines won’t work after that, or will fibre be installed then anyway?
  Copper not supported after 2025. Might use fibre or 4G. The further from the cabinet the worse the service will be. Openreach encourages people to take up fibre now as doesn’t know what might be in place in the future.
• Where does this scheme cover?
  A. Postcode checks show that as well as Chiseldon; DF, RWV, and Hodson are covered. Badbury is not. Badbury is being looked at as a different scheme. Hopefully phase 2.
• What about new sites such as Manor View where their postcodes are not included?
  Capturing data for anyone not on the list that wants to be included to see if they can do this. They will work with developers to ensure new builds have fibre included.
• Is there a pledge target? What happens if target not reached?
  If the target is not reach then would look at alternative options. May have to modify the scheme. Would look at a “plan B”. (Currently at 52% of pledges needed)
• Can we keep current landlines? How much digging will there be?
  You can get rid of your phone line and use your phone via your fibre line. Some providers may let you keep your copper service but there may be an extra charge.
  Will use ducts and poles that already exist for the fibre, will try to keep digging to a minimum.
  A distribution point would be fitted for a number of houses. The individual supplier would then connect to the property. In most cases Openreach will only go to the edge of the property.
  It was noted that everyone in Badbury had the same postcode for registering interest purposes. Michelle confirmed they were aware of this.
  Also confirmed that if you don’t pledge your voucher now but want fibre later, there may be extra charges involved to connect to your property.
• Once pledges are in place, when would work start?
  Once pledge level reached the applications are sent to the DCMS scheme. Then all applicants will be written to, to confirm their pledge. Applicants need to respond to this for the scheme to go ahead.
  Then a survey is carried out for trees, wayleaves signed for permission to dig etc. This would take weeks/months.
  Then the build would start. Average lead time 12 months. Will aim to be installed ASAP.
• Do we have enough registered home owners to make the scheme achievable?
  Wouldn’t run the service if didn’t feel it was achievable. Would look at plan B however if it were not.
• Can people access the new fibre as soon as their area is done?
  Will hopefully offer on a phased basis.
• Existing fibre goes to Alexandra Park. Will the new Burderop Park estate be included?
  Would need to check if the postcode was included. If not, will add properties to the list and see how they can add to current phase or work something out.
  It was advised that Burderop Barns postcodes were included.

• How was the target set and is there any room to set a lower one?
  The target was set based on the community’s share of the build cost. It’s a large scheme and there isn’t any room to set a lower target.
• How many existing broadband users are there in Chiseldon? And if so, what percentage of these need to sign up to make the current target?
  The proposed scheme covers 1,135 properties. It would need 341 businesses, or 795 residents, or a mixture of the two, to reach the target.
• How do non-broadband users register to pledge their voucher?
  Existing services are so bad that it just might be that a few potential users are holding off until the service is viable. It can be done via mobile phone as well as online. The government voucher scheme will email applicants directly to confirm their pledge so an email account is a necessity.
• Can selected local enterprises be given a higher rate than the standard £3,500?
  £3,500 is for businesses, £1,500 is for residents. This is government funding through DCMS.
• Given that working from home has proved so beneficial during the Covid crisis, it is likely that many employers will encourage their staff to continue doing this when (or if?) all restrictions are lifted. Should people who are able (or forced) to work from home be given a higher rate than those who must still go to their workplace?
  The funding is from the DCMS, not Openreach and so is not one that Openreach can answer.
• Does the scheme have an end date? Bearing in mind that the current Covid restrictions on meeting people and canvassing “door to door” severely restrict the community’s ability to mount an effective local campaign, should the target be reduced or the scheme’s end date be extended?
  The current scheme ends on March 31st 2021, meaning applications have to be approved and issued by then.
  If the target is met but OpenReach fail to install the infrastructure within a year are the vouchers returned intact so that the community can approach an alternative supplier? If Openreach are unable to deliver within 12 months of the vouchers being issued (that is, after an email has been sent by the DCMS to the applicant, they have accepted the terms and conditions and the DCMS approve the funding) then under certain circumstances an extension can be requested, i.e. if road closures/traffic management mean more time is needed. Things do happen, however it’s rare that an extension is required, we consider schemes carefully before launch to ensure that we have considered as many factors as possible that would affect our ability to deliver on time and on budget.
• Is the planned infrastructure fibre to the exchange, a distribution box or to the home? What connection charges will there be?
  Our work will finish at the boundary to the property. When an order is placed with a communications provider (CP) for service, as per the terms and conditions, the last connection will be made into the home and a new socket fitted.
• Is there a commitment that when the infrastructure is installed all users will be able to transfer their existing contracts (with which ever supplier they currently use) to the new service without cancellation penalties?
  This is something that would need to be discussed between individuals and their Communications Provider (CP). A list of the available providers that can be used once the build is finished is here:
  Details on FTTP providers that you can use once the build is finished are here:
  https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/fttp-providers
  And these suppliers are expected to be able to offer FTTP shortly – please ring to check availability in your area
  https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2020/09/isp-ee-launches-uk-gigabit-fttp-home-broadband-packages.html
• How can potential “pledgers” find out how much a new contract will cost? All suppliers seem to say “service not available” once you put in a Chiseldon post code. Just how much more (or less) will the minimum cost of this service be? And once installed, is it possible to revert to the slow broadband we have at the moment at contract end if the new costs are not worth it?
  Here’s a postcode where fibre costs can be checked- MK182HY. Re: switching back, that’s a conversation that would need to be had with your broadband provider.
• What are the circumstances where the “failure to sign a contract” penalty would not be enforced? Is it correct that the penalty of “the cost of the voucher” is irrelevant, since it would be much cheaper to sign a contract for the minimum time and cancel it as soon as possible? The wording on the scheme should be changed to reflect this.
  We have to articulate the terms and conditions of the funding as is written. If the funding is issued, the expectation is that a service will be taken. Understand circumstances can change, and we would encourage a higher proportion of pledges than is required so that some contingency is built in. Re cancellation after contract, I can’t advocate this approach. I would also counsel that standard phone services will be withdrawn by 2025 and some Communication Providers may choose to stop selling before this date.

• Is Badbury being included in the current scheme?
  No. Openreach are currently costing up Badbury to see if they can offer a similar scheme.

• Are there enough properties and businesses in the applicable area to be able to meet the 100% target.

Yes, Openreach have confirmed there are enough properties to reach 100% target
 

• Will everyone who pledges be guaranteed to be fully connected to the new fibre network – e.g. those of the edge of the schemes area.

Yes, Openreach have confirmed that if you postcode appears in the checker, then you will be full connected.
 

• Are there any areas of the parish not being included such as Hodson and Draycot Foliat?
  The easiest way to check is to add your postcode on the Openreach signup page. Aisne Road in Ridgeway View and Draycott Close in Draycot Foliat for example are covered.

• How many existing broadband users are there in the applicable area?
  This is not something that Openreach has access to find out

• How many current broadband providers are there?
  Andrews&Arnold, Aquiss, BT, Cerberus, Fibre Net, Giganet Home, Orbitalnet, Pine Media, Sky, Spectrum Internet, Structured Communications, Syscomm, Talktalk, Uno, Vodaphone and Zen.

Please see the below link for the video of the extract from Monday 14th Full Council meeting with the Q&A session from Openreach.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/405505019600796/permalink/1818824964935454/

Government funding has been made available to help you and your community be amongst those already enjoying the benefits of full fibre. The Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme means every eligible rural home and business premise can get a government voucher to improve broadband in your local area*

We’re one of the Government’s registered suppliers and we’ve helped hundreds of local communities across t he UK get high-speed broadband . That means they can access online services, video call, work from home, stream HD TV and game online – all at the same time.. With no frustrating buffering, no connection dropouts, no waiting your turn.

If you and your neighbours want access to some of the fastest broadband speeds in the country, just get together, check you’re eligible and pledge your vouchers. The more people involved, the more funding you get.

•voucher value can vary based on Local Authority additional contributions but start at f.1, 500 for homes and £3,500 for businesses

Check if you qualify for a Gigabit voucher at: www.openreach.co.uk/connectmycommunitycard