Superfast fibre broadband is coming your way What you need to do to get ready for it A guide for landlords, property managers and residents associations
What s happening? Openreach, the company that looks after the country s communications infrastructure, is upgrading the network. It s a massive 2.5 billion programme that will bring superfast fibre broadband within reach of two-thirds of UK homes and businesses by 2014. Right now, we re working up and down the country to put in the fibre-based equipment and cables that will underpin the communications infrastructure for the foreseeable future. With blisteringly fast download speeds of up to 100Mbit/s at the moment, increasing to 300Mbit/s during 2012 it will leave current broadband lagging way behind. And you could be among the first to get ready for it. We don t sell broadband. We provide the network infrastructure for over 400 different communications providers, from niche specialists to household names like Sky, BT and TalkTalk. That means your residents have complete freedom to choose who they want to supply their superfast broadband services.
And what does it mean for me? Get in first and get connected for free. As part of a pilot scheme, we re laying the fibre infrastructure in your area. That means you have a fantastic opportunity to get ahead of the game and get your residents connected now. As we upgrade exchange areas, we have a unique opportunity to connect residential apartment buildings to the superfast network at the same time. Your residents will then be able to contact the broadband provider of their choice and order superfast fibre broadband services. It won t cost you anything to get connected during the pilot phase. If you delay now you may have to pay to get things set up further down the line. And you ll have to wait till we re back in your area again. So let us know you re interested and we ll get everything ready.
How does superfast fibre Fibre optic cable Copper phone cable Telephone exchange Street cabinet Fibre optic cables can carry far greater amounts of data than traditional copper wires. But it s just not feasible to replace the entire copper network with fibre. So there are two approaches: Customer premises (residential or business) Fibre to the premises This is a pure fibre connection, all the way from the exchange to your building. It s lightning fast offering download speeds of 100Mbit/s at the moment, increasing to 300Mbit/s during 2012. This is the method we re aiming to use to connect your property. Telephone exchange Fibre optic cable Customer premises (residential or business) Fibre to the cabinet Here the fibre runs from the exchange to the street cabinet with the last leg running over copper. This is still a dramatic improvement on all-copper connections, with download speeds of up to 40Mbit/s now, and 80Mbit/s available during 2012. This will be how most premises in the UK will connect to the fibre network. Telephone exchange Fibre optic cable Street cabinet Copper phone cable Customer premises (residential or business) Fibre optic cable Telephone exchange Customer premises (residential or business)
broadband work? The process To get your property connected, we need to complete the access network outside the building and install some network equipment inside. We ll guide you through the process and do our best to keep any disruption to a minimum. The whole thing takes about three months in total although the actual building work inside your property could take as little as a day to complete. Every building is different so the timescale will vary depending on the type and size of your property. The key stages 1 2 3 4 We contact you and ask you to register your interest You give us permission to proceed We contact you to confirm when we ll install the cable We complete the work
Does fibre really make that much of a difference? In a word, yes. Our new fibre network is bringing in a massive sea change in broadband speeds and it will be a driving force behind the country s long-term prosperity and success. Your community needs to be a part of it. Basically it opens up a world of choice for your residents. This is the technology that s underpinning the showpiece Olympic village site and it will be the foundation of communications for decades to come. And it s not just residents, landlords will benefit too. Property investors will find their building more attractive to potential tenants and investors, giving them an edge in the market. Social landlords, meanwhile, will be able to provide an enhanced service to their tenants. The benefits of superfast fibre broadband Fast Download songs in 2 seconds, entire albums in 30 seconds, HD TV programmes in 5 minutes and feature length HD movies in less than 10 minutes! And let everyone in the home do their own thing online at the same time. Flexible Superfast fibre technology will provide the foundation for a whole host of services including telephones, video calls, internet, TV, video on demand and online gaming. Future-proof We ve only just scratched the surface when it comes to fibre. Blisteringly fast download and upload speeds will revolutionise how we use the internet. We ll be able to store and access everything films, documents, photos, music online. It s the business With superfast broadband people working from home will be able to punch above their weight and work just as productively as office-based colleagues, sharing files and videoconferencing with other sites, suppliers and clients.
It s our job to keep the country connected Openreach looks after the local access network the wires and fibres that connect tens of millions of homes and businesses to local telephone exchanges. Our network spans the length and breadth of the country, and is connected to 26 million premises across the UK. We ve over 21,000 field engineers out and about every day developing, monitoring, maintaining and when needed repairing it. Choose Openreach and keep your options open The beauty of our superfast fibre broadband network is that it doesn t restrict you to one particular supplier. We provide the network infrastructure for over 400 different communications providers, so your residents can choose who they want to supply their phone, broadband and TV services.
If you d like to upgrade the connection to your property, let us know at www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/landlord Give your residents more choice and make them better connected, for free Openreach is the BT Group business that installs, services, supports and maintains the first mile of wiring, fibres and connections which links tens of millions of homes in Britain to their Communications Providers networks. Openreach is the Official Telecommunications Infrastructure Partner for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. www.openreach.co.uk The telecommunications services described in this publication are subject to availability and may be modified from time to time. Services and equipment are provided subject to British Telecommunications plc s respective standard conditions of contract. Nothing in this publication forms any part of any contract. BT and the BT logo are trademarks of British Telecommunications plc. British Telecommunications plc 2011. Registered office: 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ. Registered in England No: 1800000. Produced by Openreach. Designed by Westhill.co.uk PHME 63206