Lots of activity happening in the next couple of weeks, and you’ll likely see a number of traffic lights up along the Chelford road.

There are two main stretches that are being worked on – the main run from the Booths Hall roundabout to the end of School Lane is happening next week – this is more proving and sub-ducting getting the route ready for the fibre connection.

Next Sunday (19th) will see traffic lights up near Parkgate road where they will be working on the section from the section of road from the Knutsford cabinet.

Connecting the existing copper telephone lines to our new cabinet is also happening next week. Power to the cabinet is due to complete by 27th Nov traffic management will be in place from the 20th to allow this work to complete.

Provided there are no major blockages on the route, work should complete on the 28th November. Service Providers should be notified a few days later, and we’ll then be able to order a fibre service from the broadband provider of your choice.

Watch this space, and fingers crossed there are no setbacks. I’m getting a guided tour on-site from the deployment team next week so I’ll be able to post more detail then.

Dave

As you may have seen, our new cabinet has now been installed at the end of School Lane, which is the first major milestone in the build out . The next steps are to run the fibre from Knutsford, install power and connect the existing existing copper lines to the cabinet.

I’ve been on the phone to BT today to get an update on progress. Whilst investigating the fibre run, they have found a blockage that they need to remove in the existing ducting (Despite asking, I still don’t know why this took a year to get to this point).

This will require temporary traffic lights on the Chelford road to allow them to fix the issue, for which they need to apply for a permit. We are awaiting an outcome on the application and to find out how long this process will take. There’s a chance this will delay the switch on date, but I’ll keep on at BT and will provide another update once I find out specifics.

As a result, I’ll put the project on an ‘Amber’ warning the November switch on date. We might still make it, but there’s a few unknowns we need to get resolved. Watch this space.

I have had a few enquires on the works to bring fibre broadband to Ollerton. The good news is that we remain on track for a November “switch on”.

The next milestone is to install the cabinet at the Chelford Road end of School lane. We should see happen in the next few weeks. In addition, BT are checking the cable routing making sure it is clear of any obstructions / blockages such as tree roots and silt. Any blockages may introduce some delays to the process, but we should get clarity on this shortly. Fingers crossed.

Just a quick update on the fibre install works…everything is seemingly on track for a November 2017 “switch on” date.

Here’s a short version of the update I’ve received from BT today:

• ‘First stage’ plans have been drawn up and completed.
• Works have been issued to survey the fibre routes determined by those plans.
• The works will retest ‘on the ground conditions’ including routes, presence of other plant, fibre joints, routes available as expected and network integrity.
• The work has been ongoing since April.   That work is completing.  This is running to plan. No delays are currently expected.
• We are on track for November.

More press coverage today in the Knutsford Guardian….

Many thanks to those who made it down for the Photoshoot. Here’s a link to the article 

I’ve been in conversations with BT and we have found a way to submit all the remaining funding requests. I now have assurance from BT that the scheme will be fully funded by the voucher scheme.

As a result I have now signed the contract with BT and the project is now officially up and running.

We have a target date of November 2017 to bring the service live. I’ll provide updates throughout the year as we progress throughout the project.

After 11 months of getting this scheme off the ground, we’re finally looking like this is going to happen…

Thanks all for your ongoing support.

Dave

***Update – if you have already applied for funding, then there is nothing for you to do***

Connecting Ollerton is now ready to receive pledges.

If you are interested in supporting the project, then please fill out this short form.

Lots going on this week…

Firstly, the Knutsford Guardian have been in contact and have run an article on our scheme. You can find it here (I’m the one holding the laptop for no discernible reason)

This week, I will be putting together a platform to enable us to receive everyone’s contributions to the scheme. I should have something to show in a few days. I’d like to get the pledges in as quickly as possible, so please have a think about your potential contribution if you haven’t already.

Dave

Many thanks for all of those who attended the meeting last Tuesday – I hope you found it useful and informative. The turnout was fantastic and the feedback very positive afterwards.

Here is a summary of the main points covered, and a few updates that have happened in the past few days.

The Meeting

In attendance from BT were Kevin Rutterford who is the Programme Delivery Director at BT for Cheshire and surrounding area. Kevin has been my main contact at BT thus far and is responsible for the rollout of fibre throughout Cheshire under the Connecting Cheshire programme. Also present were Glen Fendall and Gary Aldred from the newly setup Community Fibre Team – a dedicated unit within BT setup to oversee self-funded superfast rollouts such as ours.

We had a turnout of over 40 made of primarily of local residents. I also had a number apologies prior to the meeting from interested parties. As I expected, there is a keen interest for the project across the community, which I hope is a barometer of its eventual success.

The Scheme

The plan is to run a new fibre-optic  down the Chelford Road from Knutsford, and install a new superfast-enabled cabinet on the corner of School Lane and Chelford Road. The existing copper wiring will be reconnected to this cabinet and will be a short enough distance to enable superfast to all households in the catchment area.

Our scheme will be the first one of its kind in Cheshire, but not far behind us is the neighbouring Peover Parish, who have the exact same issue as us: the distance from the cabinet is too far to carry a ‘superfast’ signal.

Expected Broadband Speeds

A ‘superfast’ service must be (contractually) over 20 mbit/sec. In practice though most households will get a much better connection.

Most of us are getting between 1 and 2 mbit/sec currently, with some getting less than 1 mbit/sec. If you are getting less than 1 mbit/sec then there may be an issue with the wiring in the household, which could carry over to the new superfast service giving a sub-optimal speed.

To check your current speed run the checker here. If you are getting much slower than 1 mbit/s then you could try some of the suggestions on this page  (warning: that link is a bit technical in nature).

Contributions

The price for the works is expected to be in the region of £35,000, which covers around 65 households and and handful of businesses. BT are currently in the process of performing a detailed survey after which they will produce a contractual, fixed price for the work.

All contributions, regardless of value are most welcome. Below is a suggested contribution range that will get us to our target. It is important that the contributions are fairly balanced across the community – the fairest way to do this is to contribute based on the benefit you will receive from the service. For example, for myself working from home a couple of days a week, the sluggish connection is a continual frustration. For others it may be only an occasional annoyance. These contribution suggestions  I believe are the fairest way to do it and I believe will get us to the target is the simplest fairest way. Although not necessarily applicable to all, the value-add to the house price is significant (some reports say up to 20%), and could well outweigh the usage argument when considering your contribution.

All contributions will be confidential, so no-one will know who has contributed what. Please use the pledges link above to register your contribution.

The Project

Start to finish, the project will take 12 months and (all being well) will complete by January 2017. The following gives a high level overview of the scheme and how it will play out throughout the year.

The Contract and setting up a Legal Entity

To enter into the contract with BT, we need to setup a legal entity for the scheme. To this end,  I will provide more details shortly once this is in place. Thank you very much Simon for your very valuable input.

The Other Side of Ollerton

Representatives from the cluster of houses near Ollerton Crossroads were present at the recent meeting, and suggested a joint approach to the scheme. Most residents in this area, whilst not qualifying for a Superfast service, are still getting between 4-9 mbit/s. Theirs is a slightly different value proposition, but still there may be overall savings in us ‘clubbing together’. BT have agreed to have a look at this approach to see if can reduce the overall cost.

There is an agreement with BT that the formation of alternative plans will not delay our scheme’s progress.

Next Steps

The next critical task is the setup of the legal entity, and then to start receiving contributions. I will post another update  once I have some more solid information on this.

If there’s anything else you want to know then please feel free to email or call me and I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m able – please contact me using the contact link above.