The information on this page has previously appeared on the website and is reproduced here for the sake of completeness and continuity.

News

April 2022

Since July 2021 West Blackdown properties have benefited from fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband, offering internet speeds of up to 900mbps.  The cost of this service is proving to be less than the charges made for their previously abysmal broadband. Many properties from Station Road in the centre of Brentor to Hammer Park have also, since February 2022, been connected to FTTP broadband, using a variety of internet service providers (ISPs).  This has all been funded by the government’s ‘Universal Service Obligation’ (USO) scheme.

However, many Brentor properties which can receive Airband’s wireless broadband network are excluded from accessing the new fibre network unless they can prove that their service is unacceptably slow (less than 10mbps) or unreliable.  They also do  not have access to a range of competitive ISPs.  Airband cannot offer anything like the sort of reliable internet speeds offered by the new FTTP, which provides up to 1000mbps.

Residents in the Darke Lane area, whilst being accepted into the USO scheme, have been quoted a total of £36,871 for connection, to be shared between about 12 properties.  Clearly much too expensive.

There are other properties, including those on the lane from the war memorial to Bearwood Farm and beyond along the Lydford-Tavistock road, who seem to be completely excluded from the fibre broadband network.  Some,with no access to Airband wireless have to use an expensive 4G broadband system which is very unreliable.

Brentor parish residents in Liddaton are being connected to a new fibre network being constructed by Airband, funded by Connecting Devon and Somerset,  the local government-funded body which originally funded the less-than-perfect wireless network in Brentor.  The Airband fibre is also passing through Westcott and Week, where currently residents are still on copper broadband and some on Airband’s radio network and 4G.  BT speeds are almost unusable and EE 4G struggles to maintain 5mbs – whenever there is bad weather and damage is sustained it goes down.

The burning question is – how are our residents who are currently excluded from the FTTP network going to persuade the powers that be to see sense and get them connected?  Until this happens they are most definitely disadvantaged through lack of access to fast and reliable broadband.

If you have an experience to share of trying to get connected to the new fibre network in Brentor please contact the editor by email at editor@brentorpc.org.uk

January 2022

Following West Blackdown, many village centre residents are now being connected to Brentor’s new digital broadband network, courtesy of the Universal Service Obligation scheme But there will still be areas of the village centre that have no fibre connection, such as the Darke Lane area where residents have been given enormously high quotes for connection under the government’s Universal Service Obligation scheme.  Houses near Bearwood farm are also not being connected at the present time.

Work in constructing the new fibre network on existing telephone poles in the village centre has been completed and residents are being connected. They are being offered superfast fibre-to-the-premises connections of up to 900 mbps, although most will be opting  for less expensive connections at 36, 50 or 100mbps, according to their needs.  There is also the option to use the digital system for voice phone calls and to get rid of the old copper telephone lines in due course.  It’s worth noting that Openreach aim to remove their copper network from all areas of the UK with fibre by 2025.

It is definitely worth talking to others who have already bought a digital package to compare the prices negotiated.  Existing contract holders can sometimes be told that they are excluded from introductory offers, but experience is showing that often, with a little friendly persuasion, these can be negotiated!  The high-speed internet and telephone packages on offer are proving to be less expensive than the cost of our previous abysmal service. There is a range of ISPs available on the network.

Airband, who provide a radio internet system to some premises in Brentor is currently constructing a fibre network, funded by Connecting Devon and Somerset, that will serve the Liddaton Common and Liddaton area of the parish.  Connection to properties is expected from April 2022.  Airband’s code for this project is NF052 and they will answer any questions and give further information on the situation – call 01905 676 121 and take option 1.

If you have any questions or concerns around broadband, there is a dedicated person at West Devon Borough Council who is a Community Broadband Specialist who can help, her name is Gemma Bristow and her number is 01803 861383.


December 2021

West Blackdown residents are now connected to Brentor’s new digital broadband network but further connections to Station View and the village centre have been delayed by a single faulty telephone pole.  This was finally replaced on 7th December 2021, eight months after it was discovered.

There is clearly a lack of communication between Openreach and BT.   On 29 July 2021 residents received an email from the Universal Service Obligation help desk that said  ‘We are contacting you to advise that there has been a delay due to outstanding d-pole (needs new pole moved to a different location – wayleave required).  But they couldn’t tell us where the ‘d-pole’, (their jargon for a defective pole), is sited.  They should  have known that it is defective since April, when the fibre scheme was surveyed.

The defective pole

The editor discovered that the defective pole was on the edge of the river Burn, stopping the extension of the fibre to Station View and the village centre. This pole has now been replaced by a new pole on the other bank of the river.  Engineers are also installing the main fibre feed for the village centre.

Work is also going on in the village centre, constructing the skeleton of the new fibre network on the existing telephone poles.  They editor was told that the network should go live in early 2022, and this is backed up by the proposed road closures booked by BT for early 2022.

The first superfast fibre connection to a house in West Blackdown was made on 23 August 2021.  Several previous deadlines had been missed, but now all the months of battling with BT and Openreach, and all the countless telephone conversations and emails to Ofcom, our MP etc, have finally produced a result.  Residents are being offered fibre-to-the-premises connections up to 900 mbps, although most are opting  for less expensive connections at 36, 50 or 100mbps, according to their needs.  There is also an option to use the digital system for voice phone calls and to get rid of the old copper telephone line.  It’s worth noting that Openreach aim to remove their copper network from all areas of the UK with fibre by 2025.

Experience is showing that it is definitely worth talking to others who have already bought a BT digital package and to compare the prices they have negotiated.  The high-speed internet and telephone packages on offer are proving to be less expensive than the cost of our previous abysmal service!  Users of other ISPs will no doubt be able to negotiate deals and there are a wide range of ISPs available on the network.

Work started on 13th April 2021 to lay a fibre optic cable on Gibbet Hill from Mary Tavy to West Blackdown.  It took only a day to bury 1.85km of conduit pipe beneath the moor.  Work to pull the new underground fibre cable through the conduit is also complete.

Click here to see a video of the conduit being laid

The rest of the fibre-to-the-premises network is being installed above ground on existing telephone poles.  Work on hanging the fibre started on 27 April 2021.

Airband is currently constructing a fibre network, funded by Connecting Devon and Somerset, that will serve the Liddaton Common and Liddaton area of the parish, so at last much of Brentor parish will have superfast broadband – something that we have been promised since 2017!  Connection to properties is expected from April 2022.  Airband’s code for this project is NF052 and they will answer any questions and give further information on the situation – call 01905 676 121 and take option 1.

If you have any questions or concerns around broadband, there is a dedicated person at West Devon Borough Council who is a Community Broadband Specialist who can help, her name is Gemma Bristow and her number is 01803 861383.

 


October 2021

Community Broadband Project

South Hams and West Devon Council have jointly funded a two year Community Broadband Project to help drive broadband provision in areas with poor connectivity.  It is being run by Gemma Bristow at West Devon BC, who writes:

‘Broadband provision in West Devon is ranked one of the worst in the country, partly due to our dispersed rural communities and the challenging topography of the landscape. During the pandemic digital connectivity has been proven to be critical and a lifeline for all. Communities are heavily reliant on digital apps and online services for their healthcare support, businesses fight for their survival through online sales and those who are isolated turn to the internet for a social connection with their communities.  We need to ensure our rural communities are not left behind in this digital age. This project will help residents and businesses to navigate what has become a highly complex system of broadband suppliers and providers, and Government subsidy schemes.

We have now established contacts with the main organisations and broadband industry so are ready to publicise the project within the community.  We are inviting people to get in touch if they are looking for better broadband and people willing to be community champions to drive broadband provision within their community areas. We are directing all contact via the new broadband webpage and online contacts form in the first instance so we can build this database.

The intention will be to identify community champions in areas with poor connectivity outside of any existing fibre rollout plans and assist them in establishing if the interest in their area will make a viable fibre group.  I also imagine a lot of enquires will be helping residents and businesses to understand what options they have, and hopefully identifying when a supplier will be bringing fibre to their area.

We are currently contacting all Members and Parish and Town Councils to spread the word, before we then look to other communications channels. This is going to remain an evolving project, so will no doubt need to adapt as we identify what the community needs are. Please also get in touch if you think there are gaps in the webpages, or project in general as it progresses.

We invite people to enter their details at the link below if they would like faster or more reliable broadband.’

Click here for more details


September 2021
Not only West Blackdown homes but also up to 31 homes in Brentor village centre will be getting access at no cost to the new fibre broadband network being built by Openreach.  West Blackdown was connected at the end of August 2021 (over a month later than originally quoted), and BT announced on 10th March 2021 that enough residents had signed up for the government-funded Universal Service Obligation scheme for the north side of the village centre to also be connected. 

BT says……  “The funding for this project has been achieved and the BT USO help desk have submitted your Network build request to Openreach. If you are part of this network build, you’ll receive an email shortly from BT confirming the build is underway.”

Burying the fibre conduit across Gibbett Hill

The fibre installation underground across Gibbett Hill is complete but Station View and the centre of the village are yet to be connected.  There have been months of delay due to one unsafe telephone pole that needs replacing beside the river Burn.

Homes in the parts of Brentor being connected will benefit from the latest high speed ‘fibre to the premises’ (FTTP) technology that can offer internet speeds of up to 900mbps.

So how did this happen?  The government-funded USO scheme allows Openreach to claim a grant of £3,400 for each of 70% of eligible properties, whether they register or not. That’s 22 of the 31 in this cluster, leaving a shortfall of £8,358 to be raised locally.  Once 25 properties registered, a further 3 x £3,400 could be claimed in grant, covering the shortfall – simple!  Remember – BT confirms that if you register interest there is ABSOLUTELY NO COMMITMENT to sign up later for a fibre connection.

Don’t forget that you can still register interest so that you are connected when the network is finally built – the number to call is 0800 783 0223.

A number of residents in the cluster of 31 who are currently connected to Airband are now being offered Universal Service Obligation funding, despite the rule that only houses with less than 10mbps are eligible for it.  They have been told that their connection is deemed not sufficiently reliable to count as being over 10mbps.  If you already have an Airband connection but are unhappy with its speed and stability, it will be worth contacting the USO help desk to see if you can register for the USO scheme.  The telephone number is 0800 783 0223.

But what about the rest of Brentor parish? 

Another ‘cluster’ in Brentor comprises 13 properties in the Darke Lane area, who have been quoted £36,871 to be connected – that’s over £2,800 per property.  The 13 properties cannot attract enough USO grants to cover the cost quoted, even if all register interest.  We have to question why it costs so much more to connect these properties compared to others in the middle of the village – some will be very much nearer to the new fibre cable than houses in the cluster of 31.  However, once the cluster of 31 is connected, BT suggest that residents in the 13 cluster should re-apply for connection through the USO scheme and they may receive a much more favourable quotation. Dear   A pity that they can’t do this straight away and get the network built in one go!  Openreach are committed to removing all copper cable connections by 2025, which seems to imply that everyone will get fibre broadband, but we’ve seen similar promises from government come and go.

Airband is currently building a new fibre network to serve a few properties near the Brentor to Chillaton road and the Liddaton area, funded by Connecting Devon and Somerset.   This will also connect properties outside Brentor parish in Westcott and Week.  This must have come as a real surprise to the residents who have been trying to get decent broadband for years!  It should be operating by early 2022.

Properties in the Bearwood Farm area and on the Lydford-Tavistock road are not served by Airband but so far have not been allowed to register for the USO because they have some access to a somewhat unreliable 4G signal.  They may be able to benefit from Openreach fibre if all the copper cable system for telephones and broadband is removed when fibre is rolled out in Brentor village centre.  South Brentor is largely served by Airband radio broadband.

The Lydford Station area of Brentor Parish is still disadvantaged regarding their broadband connection.  If you have further information about this please let the website know.

Getting to this favourable outcome for much of our parish has been an uphill battle.  BT and Openreach have managed to turn what should have been a positive and beneficial project for Brentor into a complex and frustrating experience for residents.  It is unfair and divisive to split a small village community into arbitrary ‘clusters’ with vastly different installation costs. Openreach needs to explain clearly why the costs vary so widely.  But really it’s about time that they get their act together and build a full network within the generous funding parameters of the USO scheme.  If they can do it free of charge for the spread-out West Blackdown community and half of the village centre they should be able to do it for the rest of our village.  

It’s not easy to negotiate the complexities of the Universal Service Obligation scheme.  If you want to contribute to the information in this article please contact the website editor at editor@brentorpc.org.uk .

For more information about how this issue has evolved in Brentor click here.

You can check your broadband speed by clicking here.

 

 

June 2021
Better late than never?
Fibre broadband is apparently like buses – you wait for ever and then two come along at once.  Airband, the supplier of our less-than-ideal wireless broadband network has announced that it will be bringing fibre broadband to Brentor!
And just as the BT/Openreach fibre is being activated!Our parish clerk has received the newsletter below….

We had understood that Brentor was not originally an area designated by Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) as a fibre rollout area, but according to a recent Airband email to a local resident, nine properties in the parish have been selected by CDS to be included in their fibre-to-the-premises rollout.  Apparently additional properties might be connected that are near to Airband’s new fibre, which passes by the extreme SW edge of the parish.  In fact only two of the nine properties named are in Brentor Parish, Whitstone Farm and Stowford Hill, the rest are in Week and Westcott, so it is unlikely that many Brentor residents will benefit.  Airband is hoping to improve its wireless service by feeding some of its existing transmitters from the new fibre network.

However, there are rumours that a further 525 properties in the area will be offered Aiband fibre broadband……….. watch this space!
If anyone has more information please contact the editor at editor@brentorpc.org.uk.

17 July 2020
In 2018 the Government introduced the broadband  Universal Service Obligation (USO) and it is now in operation, offering a grant of up to £3,400 per household to pay for connection to a superfast broadband service.  Anyone without a broadband speed of 10mbs or a monthly bill in excess of £45 is eligible to apply.  The Government says that this is designed to help residents in the areas that cannot access existing superfast broadband systems such as Airband.   West Blackdown in Brentor is one such area and there are others within the parish.

However, people in the West Blackdown area of Brentor who have already registered their interest in the USO are being quoted   £45,857.02 for connection!   They have been told that only the first person signing up for connection will have to pay this sum!!!!!!!  Apparently the rest will get it for nothing.  Who will be the first we wonder!!!!   Clearly the £3,400 grant per household  offered under the USO scheme is not going to encourage them to take up this offer!  Those affected are already beginning to complain to our local MP,  Ofcom etc.   The Parish Council is also supporting them in this issue.   It is even more galling when we hear that residents in Mary Tavy and in hamlets further from the Mary Tavy digital exchange than Brentor, such as Horndon, are being given free connection to superfast broadband with no extra cost on their bills!!!!    This will save Openreach and BT money by removing the need to maintain the existing copper cable network.

Watch this space!!!!!!

It will still help if you can register interest in the USO, since the more of us that complain about the cost, the more likely it is that those in charge will see sense.  Please call 0800 783 0223 – the staff you will speak to are very helpful and sympathetic and will just require your name, postcode and address, email address and telephone number.  It is free to do and there is no obligation to take up the grant or take part in the scheme, even if you go as far as asking for a firm quotation of the cost.


Government enquiry into digital exclusion

A considerable part of Brentor still has no access to a decent broadband service, despite the provision of the Airband system.  This has made home working difficult for some and has limited access to some digital communication systems.  Our patchy mobile phone signal has added to this problem.  The Government’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has announced it will be looking at the impact of the ‘digital divide’ in accessing online support during the Covid-19 crisis.

MPs will hear evidence about the scale of digital exclusion at a time of a rapid shift online to access support during the Covid-19 outbreak.  The challenges facing individuals and communities without access to online technology will be assessed as part of a wider inquiry examining sectors within the remit of the DCMS.

The enquiry will focus on the needs of vulnerable people such as those advised to shield, the government’s role in promoting digital inclusion and what impact digital exclusion could have in the longer term.

The inquiry into the Impact of Covid-19 on DCMS Sectors is now accepting evidence until Friday 19th June 2020


Universal Service Obligation

In 2018 the Government introduced a Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband provision, aiming for this to be in place by 2020 at the latest.  It is now being introduced from 20 March 2020.

The Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband is a UK-wide measure intended as a “safety net” to deliver broadband to those premises that do not have access to a decent and affordable connection. Although it will be up to BT to determine who is eligible, it would seem reasonable to think that homes in Brentor that cannot currently receive a service from Airband, and which also cannot get 4G mobile service will fall within the eligible group .
The Government have defined a ‘decent connection’ as one that can deliver 10 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed and 1 Mbps upload speed (along with other defined quality parameters). Ofcom has defined an affordable connection as one that costs less than £45 per month.
The USO provides a legal right to request a decent broadband connection, up to a cost threshold of £3,400. For Brentor the question may be whether the cost of providing a fibre cable across the moor from Mary Tavy will cost less than this price per household supplied under the terms of the USO, but of course such a connection would benefit other premises in our village.
BT have been designated as the Universal Service Providers responsible for fulfilling requests from eligible consumers, so what are the eligibility criteria?
Residents and businesses are eligible for the USO if:
• they do not have access to a decent broadband connection (10 Mbps download speed, 1 Mbps upload speed and other specified quality parameters); or
• if the only service available that can provide the minimum criteria costs more than £45 per month; and
• the property is not due to be connected to a publicly funded roll-out scheme within 12 months; and
• the connection will cost no more than £3,400 to build (or the customer has chosen to pay the excess above that amount).
Access to a decent connection means by any technology capable of delivering the standard, including wireless networks such as mobile broadband.
Ofcom estimated in December 2019 that approximately 155,000 premises (0.5% of UK) would potentially be eligible for the USO taking into account fixed-line and wireless connections.
So when and how can a request be made? We will be able to request connections from 20 March 2020. Requests will be made through BT. Once a request is made, there will be standards placed on BT for how quickly they must assess and deliver on requests for connections.
Any technology capable of delivering the minimum technical USO standards could be considered to deliver connections, including mobile broadband. In practice, the government thinks that most connections under the USO are likely to use full-fibre technology or fibre-to-the-cabinet.
Depending on the technology used to deliver the connection some consumers may receive a higher quality connection than the minimum standards.
Ofcom has published an FAQ page on the USO: Your right to request a decent broadband service: What you need to know (9 October 2019).   Click here to see it.

Click here to see the full Government report as a PDF

In their 2019 election pledges the Conservative party made a further pledge beyond the USO.  Their manifesto states:
‘We are Europe’s technology capital, producing start-ups and success stories at a dazzling pace. But not everyone can share the benefits. We intend to bring full fibre and gigabit-capable broadband to every home and business across the UK by 2025.’

In his election leaflet in December 2019 our local MP, Geoffrey Cox, states that he will be ‘Turbocharging Digital Connectivity’.  To do this there will be ‘gigabit broadband for all parts of Torridge and West Devon by 2025 with a new £5bn commitment to rural areas.’  He also restates elsewhere in his leafle that  ‘A pledge of superfast digital connectivity for rural areas will be backed by a £5bn commitment.’

If you don’t have a decent broadband connection it will definitely be worth applying for one under the USO regulations.  Perhaps, if enough Brentor residents apply, BT will put a fibre cable across the moor to Brentor!  It might also be worth contacting Geoffrey Cox MP to ensure that both of the Government commitments are actually implemented as promised!  Even 10mbs would be better than the 5mbs and below for those of us in the parish who are unable to access the Airband system.  Superfast broadband would be a game changer for those Brentor residents currently trying to manage with less than 5mbs!

For information, below is the House of Commons Library Briefing that details the Government’s plans to introduce a Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband.  It was published on June 5, 2018.

What is the broadband USO?

The UK Government is introducing a Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband. The new USO is a UK-wide measure to deliver broadband connections to the hardest to reach premises in the UK. It is intended to fill the gap left by the UK Government’s existing broadband roll-out programs.
The USO will provide a legal right to request a broadband connection of at least 10 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed. Eligible consumers and businesses will be able to request a connection under the USO and a Universal Service Provider(s) will be required to fulfil all requests up to a cost threshold of £3,400. The USO will be funded by industry through a cost-sharing fund.
The USO is underpinned by secondary legislation made under the Digital Economy Act 2017, and will be implemented by Ofcom. The Digital Economy Act allows for the Government to review the USO and to increase the minimum speed. There was broad cross-party and consumer support for the introduction of a statutory USO for broadband in general, but there were mixed views from industry stakeholders as to how universal access to broadband should be delivered.

Technical specifications
The minimum technical standards for connections made under the USO will be:

  • Minimum download speed of 10 Mbps.
  • Minimum upload speed of 1 Mbps.
  • Additional quality parameters: medium response times, a minimum data cap of 100 GBs and a contention rate of 50:1 (which means a maximum of 50 users to share one bandwidth).

A mix of technologies that meet the minimum specifications will be used to deliver the service.  In 2016 Ofcom advised that satellite connections will probably be the only option for some consumers (approx. 0.2%) but may not be able to fulfil the additional quality parameters.

When will the USO be implemented?

The Government is aiming for the USO to be in place by 2020 at the latest. Secondary legislation was laid in Parliament in March 2018, and came into force on 23 April 2018. Ofcom has responsibility to implement the USO and that process is expected to take up to two years. Several factors need to be finalised, such as the designation of a universal service provider, and the design of an industry cost-sharing fund. Ofcom’s first document on the USO implementation is expected in summer 2018.

How many premises will be eligible?

Ofcom reported that as of January 2018, 925,000 premises in the UK (3%) would qualify for the USO based on the proposed technical specifications.
The USO will be available only to those consumers that do not have access to broadband connections that fulfil the minimum standards, not those who have such a connection available but choose not to subscribe to it. The number of premises covered by the USO will ultimately depend on the number of consumers that register.


The Parish Clerk was contacted on 27 November concerning the broadband user survey being conducted by Connecting Devon and Somerset.  The deadline for completion was Sunday 9 December.
The survey aims to find out people’s broadband needs and compare whether these needs are being met by the service they receive. The survey was open to all residents and businesses within Devon and Somerset and in addition to determining the impact from the new infrastructure (this must mean Airband in Brentor), it could help Connecting Devon and Somerset identify the broadband needs across our counties and the data ought to influence their future Digital Strategy.  For Brentor, where we still hope to get a superfast fibre connection to the Mary Tavy exchange to serve those properties not able to be reached by Airband, the survey could be very important in highlighting the patchy coverage here.
The Broadband User Survey asked questions about current available speeds, what homes or businesses can and cannot do with their existing broadband and the levels of satisfaction with their provider.
Connecting Devon and Somerset was apparently keen for the survey to be completed by as many local residents and businesses as possible – so it’s a pity that it wasn’t advertised more widely!


Where does Brentor go next for its Superfast Broadband? There is no question that those residents who have a line of sight to one of Airband’s transmitters have access to superfast broadband, although there is evidently little choice of providers and no access to the major internet service providers as originally promised by Connecting Devon and Somerset and Airband. For the rest of the village there is only a prospect of continuing with the current poor internet speeds via the Openreach copper cable system until we all have a right to demand a minimum of 10mbs in 2020 through the Governement’s proposed ‘Universal Service Obligation’ for broadband provision. But how will even this modest increase in internet speed be achieved? More Airband? Openreach fibre to the village via a fibre cable across the moor from Mary Tavy – with us paying through a Community Fibre Partnership? Or even some new technology such as ‘white space’ that uses the television transmitters?

The website Editor, Colin Dawes, wrote to Geoffrey Cox MP to bring these matters to his attention. Mr Cox in turn contacted Openreach and received the following letter:

Dear Mr Cox

Thank you for your email of 1 December about Geoffrey’s constituent Colin Dawes of The Old School, West Blackdown, Brentor, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 0NB. I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

I understand the frustration felt by Mr Dawes and other residents of Brentor over the slow broadband speeds to the village. I appreciate their need for a faster connection and the benefits that this would bring to the area. I have looked into the matter and I am now in a position to respond.

Current ADSL Copper broadband service
As Mr Dawes mentions, many residents of Brentor are unable to receive a faster ADSL broadband service. The reason for this is the distance of the premises from Mary Tavy exchange that serves the area, rather than any inherent defects with the local network.

Our records show that Mr Dawes should currently be receiving speeds of up to 4Mbps. This is the speeds that we would expect to see on his line due to the distance of his premises from the exchange. It may help if I explain that for ADSL broadband to work effectively, the ideal cable distance of the line from the exchange to the user’s premises is up to 6km. Unfortunately, broadband speeds are slower across Brentor as you move further away from the exchange.

We have investigated the condition of the local cable network. Our local engineering manager has confirmed that there are no underlying issues that are impacting on broadband performance. Also, the fault volumes for the area are below the national average. All this confirms is that the local network is up to the required standard. Moreover, our records show that there’s ample capacity in the local network to cope with any requests for new telephone service.

If any residents are experiencing problems with their telephone or broadband service, they need to raise with their Service Provider (SP), with whom they have a contract and pay their bill to. All SPs have dedicated contact points within Openreach if they need to request an engineering visit or escalate an issue.

Fibre broadband availability
Mary Tavy exchange is one of our smaller exchanges, with around 700 premises connected to it. However, the good news is that it was upgraded in November 2016 to deliver fibre broadband with support from the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) project.

The technology CDS deployed in this exchange area is largely Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC). The cabinet serving Brentor has been upgraded, but like ADSL Copper broadband, FTTC is also a distance-related service.

For FTTC to work reliably, the cable length of the copper line from the fibre cabinet to the premises needs to be up to 1.5km. Anything over this limit, there’s a degradation in speed before the service fails altogether. Unfortunately, Brentor is too far from the fibre cabinet and so sadly, out of range to receive FTTC services. Mr Dawes’ premises are some 3km away – simply too long benefit from a FTTC product.

We’re very much aware that premises in this situation present us with a specific set of engineering challenges, but the issue affects a relatively small number of lines. Technical solutions such as Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), extending the fibre cable route to bring it closer to the area/community or deploying alternative technology are being implemented in many areas right now. However, they are economically challenging and as such they are usually only deployed via the public funding route.

Having looked into Mr Dawes’s concerns, it’s largely about a wireless solution that has been provided by Airband to deliver high-speed connectivity with support from CDS. This is not a service Openreach has provided so we can’t offer any comment about its quality, cost or performance. This issue is best raised with CDS or Airband directly.

Community Fibre Partnership (CFP)
We’re having great success with a new initiative called CFP – specifically intended to help communities – that are unlikely to be covered by private commercial plans or publicly funded projects. This will be the remaining few percent of UK premises.

Across the UK we have worked with over 400 communities directly and delivered fibre broadband sooner than otherwise would have been possible.

A CFP involves a local group working directly with us. Mr Dawes mentions being quoted £50k to run a fibre service across the moor to serve Brentor, but our CFP team cannot find any record of providing any such quote for this area.

If Mr Dawes is interested in this in this option, then more details on CFP can be found on our website. He can have a discussion with other residents who are in a similar situation to him and would also like to enjoy the benefits of fibre broadband. There are a lot of details on CFP on our website below:

https://www.communityfibre.bt.com/

We’ll be happy to engage with the local community and meet with them to discuss their options and advise of the sum they need to pay. We try to do everything we can to provide support and make it affordable as possible, such as looking for alternative solutions such as overhead cabling. The more residents participate in the scheme the better it is as this will help to bring down the cost for each householder.

Finally
I’m really sorry that I am unable to provide a positive response for Mr Dawes at this time, but I hope it helps to explain our position.

Please get back to me if there’s anything else you need relating to this matter. If you have any other Openreach related constituency enquiries, please continue to contact Michael Salter-Church or Denise at parliamentary.help@openreach.co.uk. If you have constituency issues relating to BT Group (including EE and BT Consumer) please contact Clova Fyfe at clova.fyfe@bt.com.

Best wishes,
Graeme Hughes
Customer Resolutions – Openreach High Level Complaints
Openreach
Web: www.openreach.co.uk

The website Editor replied to Geoffrey Cox MP in response to this information. In turn Mr Cox wrote again to Openreach and received a further letter in reply:

Dear Mr Cox

Thank you for your further email regarding your constituent, Colin Dawes. I’m very sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

I’m sorry to hear that Mr Dawes has received conflicting information regarding fibre availability to his area. As mentioned previously, his area is fibre enabled, however the it is unlikely to work to a satisfactory level due to the distance his property is from the cabinet.

I have spoken with our Community Fibre Partnership (CFP) team regarding the matter and they would be happy to discuss the matter with him and provide a quote for a CFP. If Mr Dawes is interested, he can contact our CFP team direct. More information and contact details are available at the following link:

https://www.communityfibre.bt.com/

Mr Dawes also refers to receiving 10Mbps in 2020. BT had made a voluntary offer to the Government to help achieve its goal of delivering a universal minimum 10Mbps broadband service across the UK. BT’s proposed Universal Broadband Commitment (UBC) did not rely on public subsidy and was an alternative to a broadband USO which would also require legislation. It will also ensure that the majority of connections will be well in excess of 10Mbps.

After weighing up the benefits of both options the government has opted to go with the USO model which aims to give people the legal right to access a broadband connection of at least 10Mbps by 2020. We respect the government’s decision and Openreach want to get on with the job of making decent broadband available to everyone in the UK. We’ll continue to explore the commercial options for bringing faster speeds to those parts of the country which are hardest-to-reach.

Alongside this, we’ll work closely with Government, Ofcom and industry to help deliver the regulatory USO. We look forward to receiving more details from the Government outlining its approach to defining the regulatory USO, including the proposed funding mechanism.

I hope this helps to confirm he situation for Mr Dawes, but I’m sorry I don’t have any positive news for him at this time.

Best wishes,

Graeme Hughes

Customer Resolutions – Openreach High Level Complaints

Openreach

Web: www.openreach.co.uk


In October 2017, 18 months late, the Airband transmitter on Christchurch tower became active, fed from a temporary mobile relay transmitter in the car park of the Brentor Inn.   A wooden pole with transmitters has now been erected on the on this site,  providing a permanent relay to the church tower.  There is also a planning application in progress for changes to the transmitter at Bearwood Farm.

The Airband transmitter and relay dish on Christchurch tower before it was adjusted to provide better coverage

Initially some properties very near to the church tower could not receive an Airband signal, but now that the transmitter on Christchurch has been adjusted more  villagers in the centre of North Brentor should be able to enjoy superfast broadband.  Residents in the village centre who do not have a line of sight due to tall trees or the position of the transmitter in relation to the four corner finials of the church tower still cannot receive Airband.  The many other properties in outlying parts of Brentor which cannot see the Christchurch transmitter, or any of the other Airband transmitters, also cannot receive Airband and there seems little hope of this situation changing in the near future now that the contract period with Connecting Devon and Somerset has expired.  A number of residents who have received advertising mailings from Airband stating that they can receive the service have later been disappointed when an engineer’s visit has shown that this is not in fact the case.  This is dismaying after a delay of 18 months and the huge amount of public money spent by Connecting Devon and Somerset on the Airband contract.

Use of Airband is, of course, subject to taking out a contract with an Internet Service Provider using the Airband system (your choice is very limited, with no large national ISPs on board).

Parish Councillor Bob Lemon has written to the Editor:

“In order to ensure more accuracy and less bias on the village website, following comments regarding Airband:
1. The antenna on the church has been adjusted and most properties in village centre are now covered.
2. Take up in Brentor has been higher than most other villages, with over 40 properties now being supplied.
3. There was a minor speed reduction during roll out, but now corrected and 30MB is the norm.
4. The planning application for the feeder dish is proceeding and is looking as though it should go through. This is higher than existing so may enable some cover into valley.
5. The customer service has been excellent to date.

Regards
Bob Lemon”

The Parish Clerk has received an apologetic letter from the Managing Director concerning the delay to activating the Airband transmitter on the Christchurch tower.

Click here to read the full letter from Airband

The news carried on our local website about the patchy Airband provision in Brentor has attracted attention across the moor – apparently other parishes are also having a hard time accessing its services.  

The Parish Clerk from Harford Parish Meeting near Ivybridge wrote:

I am the Parish Clerk for Harford Parish Meeting – we are on the southern edge of the moor, just above Ivybridge.  I have been following your news on the broadband issue and the promises of Airband to deliver.  We have had no end of trouble with Airband, who never did deliver here, as apparently, we are unique!  We are a linear community, all living on the side of a valley that has trees.  Trees that are taller than their desktop model.

We have now kicked Airband into touch, they no longer wish to communicate with us, which is fine.  We have a community fibre project on the go, we have just 40 properties in our Parish and we have an offer on the table from the BT/Openreach community fibre project to deliver Fibre To The Property (FTTP) via overhead telephone cables.  Meaning that if the residents are keen then the project is just about affordable.  Yes we do have to pay, but we were losing sight of any other option.

We have had Exmoor technology in to the Parish and they are permitting us to use the voucher scheme with CDS to have 4G with EE, this is not the cheapest, but it may offer a stopgap.

We like you have tried to ‘encourage’ CDS to use gainshare money to deliver FTTP, but they won’t budge on it.

Would like to talk more, but I think with all the bad publicity surrounding Airband, we may be better off without them.

Kind regards

Ann Willcocks


Notes on the Open Meeting held on 18th September

New information about superfast broadband provision in Brentor has come to light following the open meeting held on 18th September 2017 in the Village Hall. 
Matt Barrow from Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) and Simon Palmer from Airband were present at the meeting hosted by Brentor Parish Council.The following were the main points that came to light from the discussions at the meeting:-

  • Brentor is the last parish on Dartmoor where the Airband installation is still being completed.
  • The transmitter on Christchurch tower is still not live because the agreement between Airband and the owners of the Bearwood Farm site (which was to have relayed the signal to the church) broke down when Airband asked to erect an additional relay dish to serve the church tower. The Christchurch transmitter cannot now go live until a different relay site is found. The audience questioned why the contract with suppliers of relay sites was not more robust and why a radio relay dish had not been installed when the Bearwood mast went up. Cash flow for Airband appeared to be an issue, so such equipment is not pre-installed.
  • Airband are urgently surveying for another relay site and Mr Palmer said that they are looking at the possibility of relaying from a different existing transmitter, from a new roadside pole or from a temporary mobile mast on a trailer.  He said that Airband now has ‘Code Powers’ that allow them to erect poles up to 20m high without planning permission.
  • It is hoped that the Christchurch transmitter will now go live at the end of October (which is 18 months later than originally promised at the broadband meeting in Mary Tavy in November 2015).
  • Because the transmitter mast on Christchurch is below the level of the four pinnacles of the Church Tower these will obstruct the signal, and quite a few properties, even those near to the Church, will not be able to access a direct Airband service.  Therefore such properties will have to get their signal via relay transmitters on houses already subscribing to Airband who can directly see the Christchurch mast.  Matt Barrow said that Airband users who allow their properties to be used for this purpose are compensated.
  • Mr Palmer said that Airband will actively tell Brentor residents by email whether or not they should get an Airband signal by the time that the Christchurch transmitter becomes operational.  A postcode search on the CDS website will also provide this information from the end of September 2017.  (It should be noted that some residents in Brentor have already gone through the experience of being told that they can get Airband, only to be told after a local survey that it is not available after all due to trees, buildings etc in the line of sight).  Matt Barrow said that all of this will be contingent on the contracts of the other landowners of Airband transmitter sites not breaking down in a similar way to the Bearwood contract.  He also suggested to Mr Palmer that Airband should come to the village for a couple of days and provide a free surveying service to encourage potential users to take up the Airband service.
  • For properties in Brentor that do not have line of sight to any existing Airband transmitter (such as most of West Blackdown) CDS and Airband are looking into alternative technologies to provide superfast broadband, including the new ‘Whitespace’ technology.  (This uses the unused band frequencies of the TV channels between those used for Freeview TV channels to provide a sort of ‘long-range WiFi’ that can pass through trees and buildings and does not need line of sight).  There is no funding for this technology to be provided in the current CDS contracts.
  • Many residents at the meeting felt that it would be better to try to get Openreach to provide a fibre broadband cable across the moor from Mary Tavy, which would increase competition from other ISPs, provide a more reliable telephone service and offer the potential for ultrafast broadband in the future.
  • There will be money from ‘Gainshare’ available to CDS to make further improvements to the Broadband network on Dartmoor.  This will be under active review from the end of September 2017.  (‘Gainshare’ is money refunded to CDS from the public funds provided for the Openreach fibre network on Dartmoor where take up of the service (and therefore income from it) exceeds the original estimates). We were told by Matt Barrow that CDS has an ongoing dialogue with Openreach and BT.
  • Questions about the reliability of the Airband service were asked.  An existing Airband customer said that he was getting a consistent broadband service of over 30Mbs, although this is interrupted by very heavy rain.  Mr Palmer said that all the Airband transmitters have back up power sources so that they do not cease to function in power cuts.  He also said that the broadband speed provided by Airband was ‘throttled back’ to about 30Mbs to make it more reliable in adverse weather.
  • Parts of Brentor not in the National Park and without superfast broadband, such as Liddaton, will be looked at in the next phase of CDS’s work programme.
  • CDS is looking at reintroducing the ‘voucher’ system and this can be used to install an interim solution such as 4G where other broadband is not available.   It was pointed out that 4G is an expensive option for everyday internet provision.
  • CDS were questioned as to why they have allowed Airband to currently have a monopoly on the provision of not only the infrastructure for superfast broadband but also as an Internet Service Provider (ISP).  In November 2015 we were told that the Airband system could be used by any ISP (such as Virgin, TalkTalk etc) but in reality Airband is the only one available.  Apparently in reality the big ISPs are unwilling to use such a small network as Airband. We were told that the Airband contracts have a limitation on how much Airband can charge as an ISP, to prevent them from dramatically increasing their charges.  Airband have also changed their ordering procedure so that prospective clients do not have to provide details of their bank accounts before being surveyed by Airband.  Matt Barrow said that he understood that Airband would be reducing their prices quite considerably in the near future.
  • Concerns over the cost of Airband were expressed at the meeting.  There is a need for clarity over the cost of VOIP telephone provision.  Many Airband users without mobile phone signals will probably opt to keep their copper cable telephone lines to provide a reliable telephone provision.
  • Once the Christchurch transmitter is operational CDS will be arranging training sessions for residents on how to get the most out of superfast broadband.

It was impossible for the meeting to provide all the answers to the concerns about broadband provision for Brentor.  However it has clarified the likely timetable for the Christchurch transmitter to become live.  The question about the provision of a reliable fibre connection between Brentor and the Mary Tavy digital exchange still remains and it would be useful if a similar meeting could be arranged where Brentor residents could talk to representatives from Openreach and BT.

Notes on the Broadband item at the Parish Council Meeting on 17 July 2017
At the last Parish Council meeting on 17 July 2017 , which included a discussion about local broadband provision, we were told by Simon Palmer, the Airband representative at the meeting, that installation of the Airband transmitter on the Christchurch tower was imminent – “within a week or so”.  It actually took six weeks for the installation to be started and finally Brentor residents in line of sight of the tower will have access to Airband broadband – but there are plenty of properties who won’t be able to see any of the transmitters in this area.
The Parish Council has been asked by Airband to arrange a special Broadband discussion meeting, unfortunately at very short notice, to be attended by representatives from Airband and Connecting Devon and Somerset.  It will be held  on 18th September 2017 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.   An Openreach representative has also been invited but at the time of writing there is no confirmation that they will attend.  Why not come along to find out more about Airband (if you are in a place that can see one of their transmitters) or hopefully discuss viable alternatives (if you aren’t!).
Time was time limited at the July Parish Council meeting and therefore a full examination of all our local broadband issues was impossible – so hopefully the meeting on the 18th September will go into more detail. 
In July Matt Barrow from Connecting Devon and Somerset outlined progress in providing wireless broadband to Brentor via Airband, and we learned that a total of six transmitters will now provide a service to the Parish.  Of course some of these only serve a very small number of properties. When the Christchurch transmitter is finally installed, which he said should be very soon, a lot more houses would be able to choose this option.  It was conceded that there will still be many properties that will not be able to receive any Airband service, including some that are currently being told that a service is available!
The July Parish Council audience was able to ask a few questions, but there are many yet to be answered.  In particular it was disappointing to hear that there are no large Internet Service Providers willing to use the ‘open network’ provided by Airband, so there is no competition for pricing.  This is comparable to just BT offering telephone lines and broadband – which is what the Government has been trying to eliminate for years!  It was noticeable that there is a great deal of support in our village to have a fibre connection to the Mary Tavy digital exchange, to provide a reliable fast broadband service with plenty of competition from a range of internet service providers (ISPs).
County Councillor Phillip Sanders sadly had very little to add to the July discussion, although his election canvassing leaflet says that Devon County Council will ‘extend the roll out of quality broadband for rural Devon’.
After the July  meeting the audience congregated outside the hall where they were able to question Matt Barrow and Simon Palmer,the Airband representative.  There was considerable complaint about the sales technique of Airband relating to the need to sign up and provide bank details before Airband will do an on-site survey to determine whether their service is actually available.  At least one villager has gone through this process, only to find that in the end there is no service available despite targeted email advertising to the contrary.
At the July Parish Council meeting the Parish Council agreed to arrange another meeting dedicated to  discussing broadband provision, and to invite not only representatives from Airband, Connecting Devon and Somerset, and the County Council but also a representative from BT.  It would be useful if Openreach could also be represented, since they could provide the fibre services!

Back in November 2015 we were told at a public meeting in Mary Tavy that Brentor would have a wireless broadband service by mid-2016.  Recent information from Connecting Devon and Somerset is that the transmitter planned for the Christchurch tower in the middle of the village will be installed by the end of June 2017 – a year late and it’s still not here in mid-July!  The application to the Diocese to install AirBand from Christ Church has been accepted, the church is now waiting for the formal license (essentially, planning authorisation).  As soon as that arrives (which should have been by the end of June), the church will be asking AirBand to start work as soon as possible.
Even when this transmitter is installed there will still be a large number of premises in Brentor that will probably not receive any service, due to hills or trees in their line of sight.  It also appears that even properties currently described by Airband as being able to receive a service cannot in reality get a signal due to trees etc in the line of sight and will still be unlikely to be able to get one when the Christchurch transmitter is operational.  


Some residents currently receiving a service from Airband report that, in adverse weather conditions, their signal is erratic.

At the November 2015 meeting we were told that the Airband network would be an ‘open’ service that can be used by any internet service supplier. In reality only small ISPs are willing to supply a service through the Airband system.  It now seems very unlikely that the larger ISPs, such as BT and Virgin, will supply their service via the Airband network as described at the meeting, so there will be very little price competition.

Many local villages and hamlets with overhead telephone cables are having these upgraded to fibre, but the link to Brentor is underground.  An email message from Openreach to the editor dated 16th January 2017 suggests that Brentor residents should consider part funding the cost of a fibre link to Mary Tavy themselves – although using the £20 per metre cost that Openreach quote this would cost £40,000 – £50,000 in total…….

There are plans to provide Fibre to the Customers at a distance from the Exchange (in Mary Tavy) however they are in early stages of Planning. I would request you to keep an eye on our website: https://www.homeandwork.openreach.co.uk/when-can-i-get-fibre.aspx,  for latest updates.

I understand that you are looking for the options to get Fibre, I can suggest you to get together with neighbours or a local community group and raising the money to help build the network yourself. We offer a community fibre partnership scheme where we work with local communities to jointly fund fibre cabinets. We can’t always guarantee this will be feasible, but we’d be willing to look at it if you are interested. To find out more, visit our website https://www.homeandwork.openreach.co.uk/fibre-broadband/community-fibre-partnerships.aspx.

It should be noted that some other very small local hamlets such as Hornden and Cudlipptown are now connected by Openreach to the superfast fibre network at no extra cost to their residents, despite being in the designated Airband area!  Unlike Brentor, their fibre cables are being routed on existing poles.  The Government’s policy is that it is supporting investment to provide superfast broadband coverage to 95% by December 2017 – so it looks as if much Brentor will fall into the unlucky 5%.


Since mid-January several properties in the Burn Lane area have been connected to the Airband system, receiving signals from the Henscott Farm transmitter – and they are experiencing good broadband speeds. Sadly other properties at The Court and in Burn Lane cannot see this transmitter due to the height of the moor and there are no plans to provide an alternative service to them – the proposed Christchurch tower transmitter is also out of sight.  It should be noted that some other very small local hamlets such as Hornden and Cudlipptown are currently being connected by Openreach to the superfast fibre network at no cost to their residents, despite being in the designated Airband area!  Unlike Brentor, their fibre cables are being routed on existing on telegraph poles, rather than underground.  Of course the Government’s policy is that it is supporting investment to provide superfast broadband coverage to 90% of the UK by early 2016 and 95% by December 2017 – so it looks as if much Brentor will fall into the unlucky 5%.


Openreach is the company that provides a nework of copper and fibre cables for BT and other Internet Service Providers.  In late November 2016 the Openreach website advised the residents of Burn Lane, from The Old School to the old railway bridge, that they could now order Fibre Broadband.  This followed the Mary Tavy exchange’s superfast fibre broadband connection going operational. What a great Christmas present, since most of West Blackdown is not even going to be able to receive the long-delayed Airband service………openreach

This could have heralded a superfast, and possible cheaper, alternative to Airband for Brentor if the fibre cable had gone into the village centre.  It would also not be at the mercy of trees, hills and the weather. However, the Editor contacted Openreach to see how this was being achieved, expecting to hear that a fibre cable was, after all, being laid across the moor from Mary Tavy to Brentor.  Their reply was……

”  I’m really sorry, but having investigated our network data, we’re not able to supply you with a Superfast fibre. I understand this is disappointing news.  We have received a response from our concerned team and confirmed that your property doesn’t lie within the limit which is 1.8 km. Also, the speed is slow due to distance. Unfortunately the distance between your customer’s home and the cabinet is too far (2.857km) to get Superfast speeds.

Distances are measured by the route our network takes to reach you which could be longer than the actual distance between the cabinet and your home or business.  Thank you again for taking time to write to us and although I Understand this isn’t the answer you are looking for, I hope that this position will change in the future. “

What a shambles!  It is understood that a fibre cable could be laid to Brentor, but at a cost of about £20 per metre for a new conduit.  Apparently the existing copper cable was not laid in a suitable conduit.  If Openreach doesn’t do something soon they will find that they are having to maintain their expensive copper cable across the moor for a very few users after Airband takes their customers – it might well make commercial sense to lay a fibre cable ASAP!  Openreach invites you to register interest in a fibre connection on their website – it might well be useful to do this wherever you live in Brentor.
Click here to go to the appropriate Openreach website page.


The transmitter at Bearwood Farm has been installed!  But it doesn’t have transmitters pointing to nearby residents.  Oh well.

Airband are in communication wiith Christchurch PCC regarding a transmitter on the church tower and the PCC has details of what is proposed.

Torbay Telecom, the other internet service provider currently using the Airband transmitters on Dartmoor, has emailed the Editor to say that his company does provide a service in this area, and at a lower price.  No other ISPs have apparently joined the party.


On 19th September those residents who registered interest with Airband on their website received an email that statesGreat news – Airband is now live in your area! Click on the button below to enter your postcode, view our packages and order your broadband connection‘.
On contacting Connecting Devon and Somerset for some more information the Editor was told that the following Brentor postcode areas are live:

PL19 0LN  –  PL19 0LR – PL19 0LU – PL19 0LW  –  PL19 0LX  –  PL19 0LZ  –  PL19 0NB  –  PL19 0ND  –  PL19 0NE  –  PL19 0NF  –  PL19 0NW

Of course some of these postcodes cover a large area and not all properties within them are listed as actually being able to receive the service (when you use the postcode checker from the Airband email). This is because wireless broadband needs a good direct line of sight to operate –  trees, buildings and hills prevent it from working.  If your property is not listed you are told ‘please don’t panic’.  However, if you do wish to find out if your unlisted property can actually receive a wireless broadband service, Airband asks you to sign up for one of their broadband packages (at a minimum total cost of about £740 for two years) in order for a ‘desktop search’ to be done.
henscott-airband-transmitter

Henscott Farm transmitter on 29 September 2016, with dangling wires on the bracket where the backhaul transmitter is presumably to be installed

The two transmitters that Connecting Devon and Somerset told the Editor are now live and serving Brentor are at Henscott Farm (near the A386 north of Brentor) and at Bearwood Farm in Brentor.  However, currently there is no transmitter at all at Bearwood Farm and the Henscott Farm transmitter appears to be missing its ‘backhaul radio antenna’ that receives the main data signal, so may not yet be functional.  It will be a month or so before the proposed transmitter on the Christchurch tower is due to be working, and Connecting Devon and Somerset inform the Editor that the proposed Wortha Farm tranmitter may not be built at all.

Although the wireless broadband network installed on Dartmoor by Airband is publicly funded and is an ‘Open Access Network’ that can be used by any Internet Service Provider (ISP), at present only Airband is offering to provide broadband as an ISP (although Torbay Telecom is also a provider in the Torbay area).  Therefore there is no competition for superfast wireless broadband in Brentor and consequently no pricing competition.  This may well be a concern for potential customers.
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The Parish Council has received a newsletter from Connecting Devon and Somerset.  The information it contains directly relating to Brentor is as follows:

National Parks
The new tender builds on the phase two National Parks programme already underway in our most difficult to reach areas of Dartmoor and Exmoor. CDS will have by the end of 2016 delivered superfast speeds to around 5,800 premises across the moors, boosting the rural economy.
Airband Community Ltd, the wireless broadband contractor for Dartmoor and Exmoor National Parks, have concluded their network testing on Dartmoor and have begun to roll out the service to selected communities on an incremental basis. The build on Dartmoor is expected to be complete by the early autumn. Meanwhile on Exmoor the network is being installed and we hope to be able to announce the first connections there in the early autumn.
Voucher Scheme
The CDS Broadband Voucher Scheme, which provides anyone with a broadband speed of less than 2 Mbps with a voucher for £500 towards the cost of a new broadband connection, has received in excess of 2,000 applications. Of these over 1,500 have been approved and the first installations have already been completed. 13 suppliers have joined the scheme with more in the pipeline.
Further details can be found on the CDS website at: https://www.connectingdevonandsomerset.co.uk/cds-broadband-voucher-scheme/

You can see the entire newsletter sent to the Parish Council by clicking here.

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Following a telephone conversation with Matt Barrow at Connecting Devon and Somerset on 11th August the Editor can pass on the following information:-

  • Delays in rolling out the Airband Fixed Wireless system have been due to contractual negotiations with BT and Airband concerning areas where the fixed fibre and Airband systems coverage overlap.  This is now virtually resolved.
  • Already the system is live to premises in South Brent and Ivybridge.  These areas are being used to iron out potential technical problems.
  • Dartmoor coverage is being divided into nine sectors, and by 12 August four of these will be live and providing a service.
  • Brentor will be served by just three transmitters, at Bearwood Farm, on Christchurch church tower and at Wortha Farm.
  • Brentor will go live in two stages.  The Bearwood Farm transmitter will go live on 29th August, serving the western side of North Brentor and some higher areas that can see this transmitter, such as Station View .
  • The Christchurch and Wortha Farm transmitters will go live on 14th November and will serve the centre of North Brentor and the village of South Brentor.
  • Some higher parts of West Blackdown will also receive the service, but much of this area in the valley near the Old Station will receive no service at all and may need to find a way of receiving it through the Voucher Scheme, which pays £500 per household to improve broadband where it is below 5mb per second.  Potentially by aggregating this money from 8-10 premises an Airband relay station could be built to serve this area, fed from Wortha Farm or another transmitter.  This will require the cooperation of all the residents there to achieve a service.  Similar arrangements may be needed for other parts of Brentor outside the range of the Airband service.
  • As areas go live on the Airband system Brentor residents who have expressed an intererest in using the service will receive an e-mail confirming that they can apply for the service through their choice of Internet Service Provider (ISP, such as Virgin, Talk-Talk etc).

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On 22 April an email from Airband was sent to all those who have registered interest in their wireless broadband.  It says that a detailed map of the availability of the system on Dartmoor will be available within 2 weeks on the Connecting Devon and Somerset website.  Presumably this will provide us with details of exactly which properties in Brentor will be able to receive the service.

The majority of Dartmoor planning applications for transmitter poles have been submitted and to date 12 applications have been approved and not one refused.  Deployment of the Dartmoor Airband network is fully underway, with much of the infrastructure mounted on existing buildings or masts now in place. The better weather and improved ground conditions are also allowing installations on new sites to come forward, with 17 sites either complete or in the process of installation.  Live connections will apparently become available area by area.
So it looks as though many of us in Brentor will soon be enjoying 30mbs superfast broadband.

The planning for this project has been going on for some time.  A broadband briefing meeting for local parishes was held at Mary Tavy Village Hall on 12th November 2015. This was hosted by the Connecting Devon & Somerset programme. It was reported that the government-funded programme to provide microwave-based superfast broadband in the areas of Exmoor and Dartmoor not being provided with fibre-based services is making good progress. The Worcester-based company Airband Community Internet Ltd has been awarded the contract to deliver this service.  It will provide a 30mbs Superfast broadband service to the areas of Dartmoor National Park not served by the BT fibre optic cable network, including Brentor. The company has been contracted to provide the service to a minimum of 86% of the homes and business in these areas.
In late February 2016 the Editor spoke to an Airband engineer about the details of our service in Brentor.  High capacity microwave transmitters around the edge of Dartmoor will feed encrypted Superfast broadband signals, via a relay of transmitters starting in Tavistock, to several relay microwave transmitters located around Brentor. These will send the data for our homes to small microwave receiver/transmitter units sited on our individual houses.
We were told at the meeting on 12th November 2015 that the system will guarantee reliable unlimited superfast broadband connections with no slowing down at peak times. Quite different to our current service!  We were also told that the service would be no more expensive than that provided through cable and that users could also have their telephone provided via the Airband system.  There will be a one-off connection charge (about £100-£150) for installation of the receiver/transmitter on our properties.  The actual broadband suppliers who bill users (ISPs) will be the same as for cable, such as Virgin Media, Talk Talk etc. Airband itself could also be a provider.
The caveat is that, to receive the service, the microwave receiver/transmitters on individual homes will need to have direct line of sight to the relay transmitters, with nothing (such as hills, buildings or even trees) in between. This may be difficult to achieve in practice to all properties in Brentor. 
During last summer Airband engineers surveyed, in house by house detail, the areas to be served, including Brentor. We were told at the 12th November meeting that by 20th November we should be able to find out which houses will be able to receive the service by visiting the Airband website. In fact this did not happen and according to the Airband engineer there will now be no map published showing reception detail at individual house level.

So far there has been only one planning application for a relay transmitter in Brentor parish, at Henscott Farm near Lydford, at the side of Gibbett Hill NE of Brentor (Dartmoor National Park planning application number 0034/16, which can be viewed on the DNP planning website).  There is another nearby application for a transmitter at Cox Tor Farm.  However, where installations are on existing buildings, Dartmoor National Park Authority has deemed that no planning permission will be necessary.  The Editor has been told that there will definitely be a relay transmitter at Bearwood Farm (West of Brentor village) and others sites are being investigated including South Brentor Farm, the Gliding Club and on the top of Christchurch tower.

It was reported at the meeting on 12th November 2015 that the Superfast Broadband service for Brentor will be up and running by the middle of 2016.

When the Editor spoke to Matt Barrow at Connecting Devon and Somerset on 27th November 2015 he was told that if some houses in Brentor could not be provided with superfast broadband due to their location, Airband has also been tasked with providing a minimum of 12Mbs using other methods, such as satellite or radio technology.

IMPORTANT:  Airband reports that Brentor residents have shown the highest level of interest in the proposed high speed broadband service. THE MORE PEOPLE WHO REGISTER, THE MORE CHANCE THERE IS THAT WE WILL GET A SERVICE FOR EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE.  If you wish to register your interest in receiving Superfast broadband via Airband you should register interest on the Airband website at www.airband.co AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
For more information and dates of information sessions in other parishes you can contact Matt Barrow, Stakeholder Engagement Officer, Connecting Devon & Somerset at matt.barrow@devon.gov.uk 01392 382221. You can visit the Connecting Devon and Somerset website by clicking here.

You can still check your broadband speed by clicking here. (Just click the button marked ‘Start Speed Test’ below the two dials).