Impact data and claims within this report are provided by the project creator and have not been independently verified by Spacehive.
Fibre internet would give us speeds of at least 50Mbps, that is at least 10 times what many of us receive today. Openreach will upgrade our cabinet for £4684 which will benefit over 100 properties.
Currently our broadband connections are standard speed giving most of us relatively slow connections of 3-5Mbps. A fibre upgrade would increase this to at least 50Mbps giving us a far better experience for watching on-demand video, gaming, Skype calls, working from home and general internet use. There are probably lots of reasons why we didn't get upgraded with the rest of Teignmouth but rather than focus on that I've been in touch with Openreach to understand how we can get the situation rectified quickly by upgrading the cabinet serving our properties. One option is to part fund this ourselves in conjunction with Openreach through a Fibre Community Partnership - https://communityfibre.openreach.co.uk/. This would be the quickest way to get the work prioritised but would require us to raise some funds. I have received a quote from them already and the cost to us as a community of over 100 properties would be £4684. If every property contributed that would be less than £50 each.
What we'll deliver:
Why it's a great idea:
Although obviously none of us would want to pay to have what is considered these days a basic utility the reality is that if we want to get a fibre connection sooner rather than later then we'll need to actively do something about it. The Openreach Fibre Community Partnership seems to be the best vehicle to make this happen. Once a contract is signed with Openreach they are committed to upgrading the cabinet within 12 months. I've been told that they are looking to shorten that period to 6 months as soon as they can and there is a reasonable chance that we would get the upgrade well within the 12 months that the contract states. So, with good support from the community, I am hopeful that we can get the funds raised within 4 weeks, the contract agreed within 8 weeks and if we're lucky the work scheduled and completed this year. It's not immediate but it is likely to be much quicker than if we simply waited.
Steps to get it done:
The properties that will benefit from this project are those on the following streets in Teignmouth: 1-52 Amethyst Drive 1-17 Barham Avenue 1-15 Elizabethan Way 1-22 Jubilee Close 1-42 Triumph Place Although the quote from Openreach is for £4684 the overall Spacehive target is £5184. The additional costs are Spacehive fees, transaction fees and VAT. These are automatically calculated by Spacehive. I would rather we didn't have these but I think it is probably best way to manage the project and ensure that it is done transparently. It is also recommended by Openreach. If you've got any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch either through the Spacehive site or directly using the details below: Martin Thornalley 11 Amethyst Drive Teignmouth 07976791741 martin.thornalley@gmail.com
Gallery
Location Teignmouth
About the space
Amethyst Drive, Barham Avenue, Elizabethan Way, Jubilee Close, Triumph Place - Teignmouth
Council
Teignbridge District Council
Journey
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I've had an email from Openreach confirming that the work has now been completed. I will shortly receive the final bill for the remaining 50% of our contribution. I'm chasing the last few payments which I think I'll receive most of, so we'll only be slightly short of the pledged amount which I'll cover. Once all the finances are dealt with I'll share the details here of the amounts received and charged for full transparency. Thanks. Martin.
It seems we can now order fibre for our households! If you check your existing land line or postcode on Openreach's site https://www.homeandbusiness.openreach.co.uk/fibre-broadband/when-can-i-get-fibre , you should now see that the Fibre Journey is showing the status as "Superfast Accepting Orders". I've successfully placed an order with EE for their Fibre Plus product which has a guaranteed minimum speed of around 45 Mbps. I'm aware of others on the estate who have also successfully placed orders. Please be aware though that I've not yet had official confirmation for the Community Fibre Project from Openreach themselves. I suspect this is due to internal communication inefficiencies. When I get official confirmation I'll update here. Thanks. Martin.
I've had an update from Openreach and unfortunately the new cabinet has not yet been certified. Apparently it has failed a "first power test" and I've now been told the date for certification of January 31st was a "little premature". I don't have any more dates other than they are still saying it's on track for the 12 month contacted delivery timeframe. I know this is really disappointing, especially since we've recently been given a false hope. I'll keep chasing and let you know when I have any further updates. Martin.
Hi I've uploaded the pages of the contract to the Gallery on the site here: https://www.spacehive.com/fibre33#/gallery for reference. Just to clarify, there is a difference between what BT charge for the work and what we've needed to raise in funds. This is to cover additional charges by the payment handling companies and Spacehive themselves. Thanks, Martin.
Hi all Just a quick update as I haven't posted for a while. Firstly, thanks for your continued patience. I appreciate we all would have liked the fibre connectivity in place by now, but as you know, the contract signed requires BT Openreach to deliver the service within 12 months, which they are still on track to do. I'm still hopeful it will be delivered before then however, but I have found it impossible to get any kind of plan out of BT Openreach. All I've been able to get is occasional updates, usually after the event, which I haven't shared as it's been fairly obvious what's going on if you drive along New Road. The latest I have is that BT are waiting for the power company to provide a date for when they will install power. Apparently apart from that the cabinet is ready to go. Once it is fully commissioned we will be able to order fibre from the internet service providers within 24 hours. With regard to the request to see the contract, I am more than happy to share it. Please contact me directly via email, martin.thornalley@gmail.com for a copy. Lastly, with regard to the funds, when I signed the contract I paid half the pledged total to BT (again I can provide a copy of the receipt if required). The remainder is due on completion of the project, so I have kept that to one side. Unfortunately £300 of the pledged amount has not materialised, so at present I will need to make up this amount with my own personal funds unless anyone is willing to contribute further. Anyway, that's all I have at the moment. Please do get in touch if you have any questions. As soon as hear when the cabinet goes live I will let you know. Thanks Martin
HI everyone. I've now made the first payment to BT Openreach and we should soon now hear when they are going to be able to schedule the work. Almost all of the pledges have been collected now, so thank you very much. There are a few that have yet to be collected correctly, however. I've contacted those people that I know about but there is one anonymous PayPal pledge for £50 that currently I have no way of chasing. Could you please check your records if you made an anonymous PayPal pledge and confirm whether the payment has been made. If it hasn't please let me know either by emailing me martin.thornalley@gmail.com or by phone 07976791741. Thanks again, Martin.
Today I received the contract from BT Openreach. I've signed it and returned it, so the maximum duration now that we should have to wait is 12 months for the cabinet to be upgraded. This is subject to matters beyond their reasonable control but is also the maximum time we should have to wait. I was told that projects are often delivered early and could be within 6 months. I will now be chasing to get an actual date and will share it as soon as I have it. Thanks, Martin.
A huge thanks to everyone who pledged! I'll be honest, I wasn't convinced we were going to make it but we came through with hours to spare in the end. As I understand it, your pledge will be collected in a couple of days time. I've already been in touch with Openreach and they have started processing things from their side. Once I have anything further to update you with I'll share it here. Thanks again, Martin.
Brilliant news, thanks everyone!
How will the money be spent?Total £5,060
Costs Breakdown
This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.
Total £5,060
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