New £28 million deal will take ultrafast broadband to some of the most remote areas of Warwickshire

A new deal totalling in excess of £28 million was announced by CSW Broadband today (Tuesday) which will take ultrafast broadband to thousands more homes and businesses in some of the region’s most remote places.

When this phase of the roll-out is complete, more than 98 per cent of premises in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire will have access to superfastfibre broadband.

The CSW Broadband partnership has chosen BT as its co-funding network partner to deliver the latest part of its ambitious roll-out, following a rigorous procurement process.

The High Sheriff’s room in the Judges’ House – dating back to 1816 – at Warwick’s Old Shire Hall provided a fitting setting for the historic announcement.

More details about the first locations to benefit are due to be announced on the www.cswbroadband.org.uk website early next month.

This part of the programme – known as Contract 3, Part 1 – will be delivered by Openreach, Britain’s largest digital network business, using a mixture of technologies, including Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technology, capable of delivering download speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) and upload speeds of up to 220Mbps*.

The new investment will enable nearly 15,500 more premises in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire to access superfast fibre broadband, with the majority of them – almost 90 per cent – able to get ultrafast speeds.

The CSW Broadband programme is spearheaded by Warwickshire County Council and BT, and is part of the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme. The latest phase of the roll-out includes around £2 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with additional funding from the three upper tier local authorities for Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire, Warwickshire District and Borough Councils, as well as BT and BDUK (please see notes to editors).

Engineers from Openreach will begin work on this phase in Spring next year. The roll-out is expected to reach the first premises in around 12 months’ time, with all the upgrades due to be completed by the end of 2019.

The new contract builds on the multi-million pound first two contracts of the CSW Broadband programme.

Councillor Peter Butlin, Deputy Leader of Warwickshire County Council, said: “Today’s announcement is great news. When the CSW Broadband project started, just over 73 per cent of premises in Warwickshire could achieve speeds of 24Mbps or above. Today we’re looking forward to more than 98 per cent being able to achieve what would at one time have been unthinkable speeds of over 30Mbps. The CSW Broadband team is actively seeking funding to take the fibre network still further.”

Steve Haines, Managing Director of next generation access for Openreach, said: “This major investment is a vital new chapter in the story which began nearly three and a half years ago, when the partnership began connecting its first premises in Snitterfield. CSW Broadband is already a huge success and now we’re set to go even further as it reaches into some of the region’s most remote areas. The roll-out of high-speed broadband across Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull has transformed the way people get online which is why we’re committed to making this exciting technology as widely available as possible.”

Because the fibre broadband network is being installed by Openreach, households and businesses have a wide choice of fibre broadband providers. Upgrades do not happen automatically. Local people wanting to benefit need to place an order with their chosen fibre broadband provider.

Existing underground ducting is used wherever possible, minimising disruption and the need to dig up roads and pavements.

Updates on the roll-out are available from: www.cswbroadband.org.uk

Notes to Editors

Contract 3 announced today will total in excess of £28 million. This includes £4.8m from the local authorities in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire, £7.2m from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme, £2m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), £13m from BT Group and £1m from Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP).

---ends---

Issued by Warwickshire County Council and BT on behalf of the CSW Broadband partnership.

For more information please contact Leigh Hunt at the CSW Broadband project office on 01926 738339 or email: broadband@cswbroadband.org.uk

Or

Emma Tennant at the BT regional press office on 0800 085 0660 or email: emma.tennant@bt.com Twitter: @EmmaTennantBT

About CSW Broadband

The CSW Broadband roll-out is using a mixture of technologies. These include Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC), which provides download speeds of up to 80Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps, and Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP), which is capable of delivering download speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) and upload speeds of up to 220Mbps. In addition there are some premises that are currently connected directly to the telephone exchange rather than via a green roadside cabinet, sometimes known as Exchange Only (EO) lines. In order to connect EO lines, further roadside cabinets have to be installed.

*Speeds referred to are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach, the local network business which is part of BT, to all broadband service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.

The CSW Broadband programme is made up of different phases and contracts.

Contract 3, Part 1, as highlighted in this press release, is receiving up to £2m of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Communities and Local Governmentis the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For moreinformation visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

Almost 90 per cent of premises will be served by FTTP technology.

Contract 2, Part 1 of the CSW Broadband programme was announced in February 2015. The deal was spearheaded by Warwickshire County Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, which are contributing an initial £3.68 million and £0.38 million respectively, with an additional £2.61m from BT and a further £4.06m from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Superfast Extension Programme (SEP). When complete, it will increase the percentage of homes and businesses able to access high-speed fibre broadband in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire to nearly 94 per cent when combined with the first phase of the CSW Broadband roll-out already underway and the private sector investments of companies like BT.

Contract 2, Part 2 was announced in January this year. Funding for this stage was made available to the CSW Broadband programme as a result of the ‘gainshare’ mechanism in the original contract. It was triggered by strong take-up of fibre broadband by local households and businesses.

The first part of the CSW Broadband roll-out is known as Contract 1 which started connecting the first homes and businesses in April 2014. This £15.47 million deal was spearheaded by Warwickshire County Council, BT and the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme, to enable around 40,000 premises to access high-speed fibre broadband.

About Superfast Britain

Superfast Britain is a Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race.

The portfolio is comprised of three elements:

1. £790m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017;
2. £150m to provide high-speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities; and
3. £150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and basic data network services.

   Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life.

   For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk

   About BT

   BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services.BT consists of six customer-facing lines of business: Consumer, EE, Business and Public Sector, Global Services, Wholesale and Ventures, and Openreach.

   For the year ended 31 March 2017, BT Group’s reported revenue was £24,062m with reported profit before taxation of £2,354m.

   British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

   For more information, visit www.btplc.com

   About Openreach
   Openreach is Britain’s digital network business.
   We’re 30,400 people who connect homes, mobile phone masts, schools, shops, banks, hospitals, libraries, broadcasters, governments and businesses - large and small - to the world.
   Our mission is to build the best possible network, with the highest quality service, making sure that everyone in Britain can be connected.
   We work on behalf of more than 580 communications providers like SKY, TalkTalk, Vodafone, and BT, and our fibre broadband network is the biggest in the UK, passing more than 26.5 million premises.
   We’re also the platform for Britain’s thriving digital economy, which is the largest in the G20. We’re working hard to give people the speeds they need to run and enjoy their daily lives. Over the last decade, we’ve invested more than £11 billion into our network and we now manage more than 158 million kilometres of cable stretching from Scotland to Cornwall, from Wales to the east coast.
   And we’re continuing to take that network further - making superfast broadband speeds available to thousands more homes and businesses every week.
   Openreach is a wholly owned and independently governed division of the BT Group, and it is a highly regulated business, with more than 90 per cent of our revenues generated from services that are regulated by Ofcom.
   Any company can access our products under exactly the same prices, terms and conditions. For the year ended 31 March 2017, we reported revenues of £5.1bn.
   For more information, visit openreach.co.uk