Rural Rutland to get 40Mbit/s broadband

The rural installation uses a system called sub-loop unbundling

A rural community in Rutland will receive a 40Mbit/s broadband service from 14 April in a move that could set a precedent for other rural communities to get online and help close the digital divide.

The village of Lyddington will benefit from the new service, which is being provided by local firm Rutland Telecom using a system called sub-loop unbundling.

This involves taking advantage of BT's Openreach service by running a fibre-optic cable from a major exchange to an exchange installed by Rutland Telecom, which then hooks up to existing copper and runs the service into the home, resulting in much faster speeds.

Residents and businesses can access the new services, allowing firms to take advantage of the faster download speeds, as well as uploads of speeds of up to 10Mbit/s, and operate on an equal footing with firms in major cities.

David Lewis, managing director of Rutland Telecom, claimed that the system offers a financially and logistically viable option that could get rural communities online with faster broadband services across the UK.

"There is definitely the opportunity there for firms, or even parish councils, to set up in villages to take advantage of accessing BT's cabinets to provide high-speed broadband services," he said.

"Many people don't realise that this sub-loop unbundling is possible. We've had a lot of interest from people across the UK since we announced this project to hear about what we did and how they could to it too."

However, Lewis warned that, in order to make the work financially viable, it is important to work with the local community to discuss the requirements and have deposits submitted upfront to the tune of £25,000 to £50,000.

Rutland Telecom is now looking at installations in several areas, including an internet not-spot in Wales and Denby Dale in Yorkshire which had shown strong interest in receiving high-speed broadband services.

Lewis said that Ofcom and the government have shown interest in the company's work as a way to close the digital divide.

Before Rutland Telecom installed the service in Lyddinton the average speed in the village was 0.5Mbit/s, meaning that BBC iPlayer and YouTube did not work and large files could not be uploaded.