BT drops rural broadband cost from £500,000 to £100
/v3-uk/news/2001420/bt-drops-rural-broadband-cost-gbp500-gbp100
09 Sep 2010, Dan Worth , V3
Residents of a small village in rural Wales will be able to access broadband internet for the first time after BT switched the exchange to which the houses are connected.
Erbistock, near Wrexham, had been a not-spot owing to its distance from the exchange, but residents will now be able to receive speeds of between 1Mbit/s and 4Mbit/s.
Properties in the village (Google Maps) were connected to an exchange in Bangor-on-Dee but BT used its Openreach programme to change this to Overton-on-Dee.
BT said that residents can now request broadband services from a supplier by transferring their connection to the new exchange, but that this would involve a new phone line and number at a cost of around £100.
However, as BT pointed out, residents could claim back this cost from broadband support schemes aimed at helping rural not-spot residents to get online.
A BT spokesperson explained that the 're-parenting' system could be an option for getting other areas online, but that it is usually expensive.
"The re-parenting solution (whereby customer lines are migrated to another exchange) was possible in Erbistock because there was already a redundant cable in place. This was discovered during business as usual activity in the area," the spokesperson said.
"As network assets were already in place it allowed us to provide a broadband solution in a cost-effective manner. We do consider re-parenting a potential solution to address broadband not-spots, but in most cases it proves to be cost-prohibitive."
BT could not confirm the total cost of the switchover, but said that by using the existing redundant network assets costs were "minimal".
Erbistock has already been in the headlines after BT gave the village an initial quote of £500,000 for broadband access.
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Do you agree?
BT drops rural broadband cost from £500,000 to £100
I wish the media would report this correctly, the £550,000 BT quouted was just one option from a list of options. The media and the residents decided to then cherry pick that one option to moan about the company.
People have to remember two things;
1. The BT Group have to open up their network for third parties to use, i.e. Sky, AOL, etc. So they could spend hundreds of thousands installing the new network then the 80 residents all take out broadband with Sky leaving BT out of pocket. Where as if the went with Rutland Telecom they would be stuck with Rutland Telecom as they do not have to wholesale their network to other ISP's.
2. BT are a business and NOT a social service, they have these people called investors and share holders who give BT money and expect to see a return on it. How would you feel if I asked you to invest £100,000 in my business then I told you that I was forced to wholesale my product/service out to other companies at a knocked down wholesale price set by a regulator so that would mean you wouldn't see a return on your investment for probally 200 years or more!
Posted by Good Looking Bob, 10 Sep 2010