Hull heading towards being most fibre rich part of the UK
KC who operate as the incumbent operator in the Hull area is pushing forward with its Lightstream rollout and in an interview with ISPreview they suggest they are looking at 90% of their fibre footprint utilising a full fibre to the premises (FTTP) connection, which is the inverse of the situation in the rest of the UK. Current estimates for the Openreach ratio of C to P suggest that their roll-out features around 0.5% FTTP availability.
KC has a much smaller footprint than BT, but with the goal of reaching 45,000 premises by March 2015 it is a worthwhile number, particularly if you are a business looking for faster, reliable connectivity. Back in 2012, KC was the only area to declare the 2 Mbps USC as job completed.
Sean Royce of KC also has some comments about the Public Accounts Committee on Computer Business Review, where he questions the size of the Government investment, with the suggestion that more money should have been invested by the public purse to reflect the importance seemingly attached to the project, or made more competitive by excluding public subsidy. The two ideas appear at odds with each other, but it might have avoided the halfway house that at present appears to please very few people.
Of course the ratio of P to C in the fibre roll-out is not everything, and a simple look at the number of homes in Hull City which is some 116,000 properties shows that 45,000 is not the complete rollout, but a stepping stone towards the EU 2020 Digital Agenda targets, where everyone can get a 30 Mbps connection and half of us are buying a 100 Mbps service.
Comments
yay, Go Hull. That's the way to do IT.
I am assuming that KC don't wholesale the connection. So, the downside is you are locked into a single provider with no competition at all (not even wholesale level).
Also assuming that they can do this in smaller contained areas where payback is more predictable (and of course where charges are not controlled by a regulator).
As far as I am aware KC is the only provider in Hull anyway - there is no BT presence nor VM,
All the exchanges are owned and run by KC
KC does do wholesale, but no retailers buy it. As they have SMP in their area I think it's an obligation.
It's not just Hull but Beverley and the other outlying areas in the East Ridings.
My in-laws live in Beverley and everybody there hates the fact they are locked into a complete monopoly with a lot higher pricing.
In South Cave BT will supply a line and ADSL from the nearest exchange as well as KC havign a presence but as KC are doing FTTC, BT are refusing to do the same which has lead the local council to even start a campaign to get BT to overlap as it is significantly cheaper than KC.
I just love how people compare what is done in Hull (minute part of the UK) with the rest of the UK
But yeah good on them, they don't have the worries or constraints that imposed elsewhere, if anything they should have been trailblazing fibre many years ago
It may be full fat fibre but 100Mb down, 10Mb up for 50 quid a month isn't really competitive compared to hybrid solutions.
Just because it's FTTP, CD, doesn't mean it's some miraculous wonderful solution. 100/10 for 50 quid a month is monopoly pricing compared to the rest of the UK.
@dixi - difficult one as for that £50 you get unlimited plus phone and unlimited UK calls. I am also assuming it includes line rental. So compared to BT FTTC it is not that much more expensive (if at all). But, it is a complete lock in and no option to try an alternate provider if things don't go well.
If BT group had true monopoly like KC then maybe the FTTP business case would be stronger.
The de facto monopoly Karoo, the KC ISP, have in the Hull area for ADSL broadband is very much resented. The service is poor, the costs high and the reliability pathetic. KC provide the service they think appropriate in the knowledge that there is no alternative. There are some small Wireless ISPs, similar to those in poorly provisioned rural areas of the UK. They have the advantage that you do not need a landline, this is a significant cost for many users. Hull is not a prosperous area and the digital divide is very conspicuous. FTTP is for the homes of well heeled professional types.
@filmstar
"The service is poor, the costs high and the reliability pathetic."
Matches the local environment then I guess.
@filmstar
"The service is poor, the costs high and the reliability pathetic."
Works for me and I'm retired.
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results.html?id=138584691051830652179
I was moving to Hull for work but it ended up being from home.. Dammit! I might find a way to relocate anyway