No, it’s not an April Fool’s Day Joke!
As you may be aware West Hill Parish Council have been investigating the possibility of bringing “Ultrafast Fibre Broadband”, via Fibre To The Premises (FTTC), to West Hill.
Jurassic Fibre have booked the Village Hall so they can come and discuss their scheme for Ultrafast Broadband with residents.
- Broaddband Presentation by Jurassic Fibre
- West Hill Village Hall on Wednesday 1st April 2020
- 3:00pm -7:00pm, a drop-in session
- 7:00- 8:00pm presentation by the Jurassic Fibre team incl Q&A
Research to Date
During 2019 various providers were contacted, including BT/Openreach, Gigaclear, Air Band and Vodafone (for 4G or 5G version).
- BT advised we are not a priority as we already have Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) – the green BT/Openreach boxes you see around the village.
- Gigaclear advised they were already heading this way, from the Daisymount end of Toadpit Lane, but then they fell by the wayside.
- Air Band advised their version of Broadband depends on masts and it is unlikely that would work here due to the terrain and number of trees.
- Vodafone advised 4G is no longer likely and 5G would not be heading to rural communities for quite some time, and since the Huawei issues may have made rollout progress even slower.
Thankfully Jurassic Fibre (JF) ARE keen to add us to the list of interested Towns/Villages for their all new Fibre Network and we have been progressing matters with them as they grow and evolve. JF are currently working on the First Phase of their network (from Exeter to Exmouth and various locations between) and have recently added Aylesbeare to that First Phase.
Subject to sufficient interest and over-coming the issues of wayleaves they hope to include us in Phase Two, perhaps as early as Summer 2020.
FIRST STEPS
We now need to show sufficient interest to encourage our inclusion, and this is where you all come in – West Hill community.
Many of you will have already “expressed an interest” but, if you have not yet done so, PLEASE clink on the link and sign up. This is NOT a commitment but merely an indication of how many West Hill households would be interested. As numbers are critical please also spread the word by mouth and email to friends and neighbours so we may achieve the scale required as soon as possible.
To register your interest go to their website Jurassic Fibre . It is the first thing you will see on their homepage.
PRICING
The next big question is the cost of provision of services to householders and businesses.
Jurassic Fibre have told us they are very cost competitive in the FTTC market but of course also offer a superior/faster service which is price competitive with the likes of Virgin and BT (where available).
The tariff sheet is attached so you may consider pricing yourselves.
NEXT STEPS
Jurrasic Fibre have booked West Hill Village Hall for Wednesday 1st April 2020 so they can come and discuss with residents their phased options. (NO this is not an April Fools’ prank!). There will be a drop in session from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm, followed by a presentation by the JF team (with a Q & A) from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
We are hoping that Connecting Devon & Somerset (CDS) will also attend so they may give an Independent view of the Broadband sector, especially in East Devon.
HELP OURSELVES
Please spread the word and encourage numbers to the event and as signing up as “interested”, thus showing Jurrasic Fibre that as a Community WEST HILL is very keen on achieving FTTP Broadband.
Cllr Quentin Tailford
quentin.tailford@westhillparishcouncil.gov.uk
