Political and business leaders have welcomed news that rural Dorset will be among the first areas in the country to benefit from the government’s new £5bn gigabit broadband fund.
It follows months of behind-the-scenes lobbying for better broadband in Dorset, led by West Dorset MP Chris Loder and Dorset Council’s deputy leader, Cllr Peter Wharf.
The funding will be directed at the county’s hardest to reach and most poorly served areas.
Cllr Wharf said: “This is fantastic news for Dorset. To be one of the first areas in the country to benefit from this funding is testament to the groundwork we put in place and our talks with ministers.
“Improving connectivity is essential for ensuring the county can prosper and that’s why it is one of our top priorities in both the Dorset Council Plan and our Economic Growth Strategy.
“We now look forward to working with the government in identifying the areas that will most benefit from this next generation of gigabit-capable broadband.”
Thousands of Dorset’s homes and businesses are set to benefit from the funding, receiving next generation connectivity.
Identifying the areas is underway, with contracts for the work expected to go to tender in late summer/autumn. Building the gigabit-capable infrastructure could start by the end of this year.
Projects will prioritise those areas in Dorset that currently have slow connections and would otherwise have been left behind in broadband companies’ rollout plans.
When connected, these premises will have available speeds that could rocket to more than 1,000 megabits or one gigabit per second.
It will mean families no longer having to battle over bandwidth and will give people in rural areas the freedom to live and work more flexibly. It will also provide a boost to businesses and the economy.
West Dorset MP, Chris Loder, said: “Relentless effort to improve our broadband is paying off. Almost on a weekly basis, I have pressed the government in the House of Commons to put Dorset at the top of the list of broadband priorities and, last Friday, the government confirmed that we are at the top of the list for the £5 billion Project Gigabit programme to sort out our poor broadband connectivity.
“This will be a gamechanger for local people and businesses and all the more important post-coronavirus.”
Dorset has almost 96% Superfast coverage thanks to the council’s partnership with Openreach, which began nine years ago.
The county is also one of the top performing areas in the country for issuing government voucher funding for rural areas to receive ultra-fast broadband – with 2,085 vouchers, worth £3.9m issued. Dorset Council also invested £1m in the last voucher scheme to top-up the money available to local communities.
However, when it comes to the next generation of gigabit capable broadband, Dorset only has 7% coverage, compared with 38% nationally.
This news from the government will increase the county’s coverage of full-fibre and gigabit capable connections.
Ian Girling, Dorset Chamber chief executive, said: “This is incredibly welcome news and I am very pleased that Dorset businesses will be among the first to benefit from Project Gigabit.
“It is essential for our thousands of SMEs in rural areas to have the fastest broadband connections possible to allow them to compete on a level playing field with businesses in urban areas both in Dorset and nationwide.
“As more businesses switch to remote working from home or relocate into more rural areas away from the larger cities in the wake of the Covid pandemic, it will be more important than ever to ensure that the digital infrastructure can cope.
“This is a great opportunity to not only boost the productivity of businesses in Dorset but also put the county on the map nationally.”
When will the seemingly forgotten village of Folke receive an increase in download speed from the current 2 or 3 Mb/sec?
Premises in Folke are currently in our contract with Openreach to bring full fibre to the premises by December 2021. Before this can happen, Openreach needs to survey the area and sometimes as a result of the survey plans can change. If you would like to email us at connectingdorset@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk so we have your contact details, we can keep you updated. In the meantime you may wish to look at the BT/OFCOM Universal Service Obligation offer to people who receive speeds of less than 10Mbps. This scheme might be able to offer you an immediate 4G Home Hub solution, depending on the mobile coverage of your area. For more information visit https://www.bt.com/broadband/USO
On the face of it this sounds good news. Does it mean that Openreach will be willing to connect places they have refused to consider up to now?
The last time I asked them to connect a fibre line from a pole less than half a mile from where we desperately need a fibre connexion they said “It is not our policy to alter our infrastructure.” !!!!!!!!! As if they were not an infrastructure company.
The Project Gigabit project will be open to all suppliers to bid for. If you would like to email us your contact details we can look into the problems you mention and raise this with Openreach. Our email is connectingdorset@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
On the face of it this is good news. Does it mean that Openreach will be willing to connect places they have refused to consider up to now
When asked to connect from a pole where they have brought fibre less than half a mile to where we desperately need it they said: “It is not our policy to alter our infrastructure.”
As above – The Project Gigabit project will be open to all suppliers to bid for. If you would like to email us your contact details we can look into the problems you mention and raise this with Openreach. Our email is connectingdorset@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
Fastest growing town in West Dorset, Chickerell, currently has one of the slowest broadband speeds! After seven years of being told it is coming We are still having to put up an extremely slow 0.3mbps upload speed! How are we meant to be able to utilise cloud based platforms with snail speeds? The copper connection to my house is nearly 5km is length so it can come soon enough!
Thank you for your comment. There are some premises in the parish that are due to receive full fibre to the premises by December 2021 under our current contract with Openreach. This contract is now at the survey stage, which does mean plans can sometimes change. Other properties not in this contract could potentially also be eligible for the new government voucher scheme, depending where in the parish they are located, towards gigabit capable broadband. Anyone who receives speeds of less than 10Mbps are also entitled to help via the BT/OFCOM Universal Service Obligation – more details here: https://www.bt.com/broadband/USO If you would like to email us at connectingdorset@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk with your contact details we can provide more specific advice for your address.
Please dont forget Corfe Mullen. We get 10mbps
May I make a plea for the Minster Park estate, Wimborne, i.e. Allenview Rd, Lacy Drive, Venator Place area to be considered as a candidate for a fibre connection. Much of Wimborne already enjoys this facility but we have been advised that thus far there has been no consideration for this area apart from our co-ordinated request and the response that we could pay for it ourselves at an unaffordable cost.
Thank you.
Thank you for your comment. The council is now beginning an exercise called an open market review to establish where broadband suppliers have commercial plans in the county. Once that work has been completed we will be able to identify the most in need areas to receive the Project Gigabit funding. Most of the government subsidies that are currently available for broadband are aimed at rural areas, which unfortunately Wimborne is not classed as. There is also a national scheme for anyone, rural or urban, who receives speeds of less than 10Mbps called the BT/OFCOM Universal Service Obligation – more details here https://www.bt.com/broadband/USO You could consider contacting your MP to make representations for better broadband on behalf of the town.
I live in Wimborne and, like 5% of the UK, I am in an area where the connection is ‘exchange only’. We have been quoted thousands of pounds each by Openreach for access to fibre. Are we ever going to be included in these upgrade schemes?
As above for Wimborne: Thank you for your comment. The council is now beginning an exercise called an open market review to establish where broadband suppliers have commercial plans in the county. Once that work has been completed we will be able to identify the most in need areas to receive the Project Gigabit funding. Most of the government subsidies that are currently available for broadband are aimed at rural areas, which unfortunately Wimborne is not classed as. There is also a national scheme for anyone, rural or urban, who receives speeds of less than 10Mbps called the BT/OFCOM Universal Service Obligation – more details here https://www.bt.com/broadband/USO You could consider contacting your MP to make representations for better broadband on behalf of the town.
It’s great that Gigabit speed may be coming to some rural communities in Dorset but what about improving the speed for some central Wimborne areas? I live in Venator Place (post code BH21 1DQ) and we only have standard Broadband here. The maximum speed I can get is 12 Mbps download (on a good day) and 0.9 Mbps upload. The reason is nothing to do with my broadband provider or my equipment – it’s because there are no green boxes in this area – all lines come straight from the Wimborne exchange and the council have said previously they are not responsible for upgrading them. Nearly everyone in this area suffers from low speed. I would be over the moon if we could get 30 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload, so wouldn’t it make sense to spend some of the new money on this before spending a lot more on Gigabit speeds for those that live miles away from the exchanges?
As above for Wimborne: Thank you for your comment. The council is now beginning an exercise called an open market review to establish where broadband suppliers have commercial plans in the county. Once that work has been completed we will be able to identify the most in need areas to receive the Project Gigabit funding. Most of the government subsidies that are currently available for broadband are aimed at rural areas, which unfortunately Wimborne is not classed as. There is also a national scheme for anyone, rural or urban, who receives speeds of less than 10Mbps called the BT/OFCOM Universal Service Obligation – more details here https://www.bt.com/broadband/USO You could consider contacting your MP to make representations for better broadband on behalf of the town.
Will this cover the Corfe Mullen area ? Our Internet is the worst here, half the village has been converted and then they just stopped.
I agree, live at the bottom of corfe mullen and only get 12mbps
Looking forward to hearing how local businesses can get involved in the decisions on priority areas. Here in Marnhull, we have to have 2 broadband connections for 2 people to work reliably with our clients without having interruptions.
I live in Lytchett Matravers and the actual speed check results today at 15:00 were Download 5.5 Mbps and Upload 0.5 mbps. The BT site did not do a speed check but said that the hub could provide over 10mbps and so we are not eligible for the national upgrade scheme. What BT believe is available and reality are 2 different things, we run 2 business from home and have 2 teenage children that require wifi for school/college work. What will the council be doing for us.
Hi Ian, thank you for bringing this to our attention. The BT/OFCOM Universal Service Obligation is to help people who receive speeds of less than 10 Mbps and it uses data to show what speeds people should be getting. You may wish to call them on 0800 783 0226 to challenge the information they have for your property. In the meantime, could you email us with your full address and we can look into this for you in more detail. Our email is connectingdorset@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
Having looked at the map, I see Chideock as usual has not been included. Our current speed is slow compared to most. The work is going to be either side of Chideock. If you are using the A35 to supply main fibre ,it comes through Chideock anyway. So why leave Chideock . We have many businesses connected with tourism and Farming here that could benefit.
I have seen a map of this project and it totally ignores Chideock. Is this true?
Our connection with BT is poor. Most times we get buffering on TV and slow computes speeds.
Whenever I read comments about broadband speeds it nearly always refers to the limitations due to the copper cables. During the latter decades of the last century BT installed a mixture of copper and aluminium alloy cables in their network; the latter on cost grounds. I was employed by BT at that time.
Aluminium is a poorer electrical conductor than copper and also has an additional attenuation (i.e. loss) problem when the two conductors are jointed together.
These facts never seem to to be alluded to by Openreach.