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What’s Fastershire all about? Imagine a place where you can do more, and faster, online. Whether that’s working from home, building a business or studying for that next qualification, you can do it all and more in Fastershire.

Fastershire is a place where residents and small companies are not constrained by slow broadband speed. They can communicate, do business and access services with ease.

Herefordshire Council, Gloucestershire County Council and BT are working in partnership to bring faster broadband to Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, by building a new world class broadband network.

The new network will transform Gloucestershire’s broadband speeds by the end of 2015 and Herefordshire’s by the end of 2016.

By the end of 2016, around 90% of homes and businesses across the two counties – some 148,000 premises – will be able to get faster broadband, while the remaining premises in the project area will have access to at least 2Mbps.

The majority of premises in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire will be getting access to some of the best broadband speeds in the country. This will boost the competitiveness of local firms, support new ways of flexible working, and create opportunities for local residents.

Access to faster broadband is widely recognised as vital to rural communities and local businesses if they are to flourish and thrive. Faster broadband will have an increasingly significant impact on the economic and social development of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

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Fastershire is the first joint authority partnership between Herefordshire Council, Gloucestershire County Council and BT.

The project investment totals £56.6m - £10.1m from Herefordshire Council, £7.5m from Gloucestershire County Council, £20.9 from BT and £18.17 from Broadband Delivery UK.

The majority of homes and businesses in the county will have access to broadband speeds of at least 30Mbps by the end of 2016.

Fastershire will also look to work with communities to extend the reach of faster broadband with additional funding such as the Rural Community Broadband Fund.

Fastershire is responsible for putting the infrastructure in place, it doesn’t sell broadband products. To get faster broadband, you need to order it through your current supplier or choose a package from another provider.

“The County Council has a commitment to help Gloucestershire grow by investing in better skills, infrastructure and homes – for young people, for business and for the community”

Councillor Mark Hawthorne, Leader of Gloucestershire County Council.

“This project will really put the county on the map, attracting more businesses to the county, helping existing ones grow and enabling rural properties become less isolated”

Councillor Tony Johnson, Leader of Herefordshire Council.

At a glance:

“It’s great to see Herefordshire and Gloucestershire working in partnership to bring the best possible broadband to their rural communities”

Bill Murphy, Managing Director, Next Generation Broadband from BT Group.

Distance doesn’t affect the quality of voice services (telephone calls) delivered over copper. But it does affect the quality and speed of data transmission. The longer the distance from the exchange to the cabinet and from the cabinet to the premises, the weaker the data signal becomes. And in an increasingly data-driven world, this is becoming a problem.

Unfortunately, it’s just not feasible to replace the entire copper network with fibre. So there are two main approaches:

Why is everyone talking about faster broadband?The current communications network has been built on copper and it’ll continue to play an important role for some time to come.

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FTTC uses fibre-optic cables throughout the network right up to the street cabinet. It then uses existing copper wires connecting the cabinet to homes and businesses. FTTC provides download speeds up to 80Mbps and upload speeds up to 20Mbps.

1. Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC).

A pure fibre solution, FTTP means fibre-optic cables run right to the door of each home or business. It provides download speeds up to 330Mbps and upload speeds up to 30Mbps. If that’s not fast enough for you, there’s a 1Gbps version already being tested.

2. Fibre to the Premises (FTTP).

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The Fastershire delivery will use a mixture of FTTC and FTTP. For some areas, where it will be harder to reach with a fibre-optic cable, we will use alternative technologies.

BeGInnInG To see THe lIGHT: THe Power oF FIBreFibre optic cables are revolutionising the communications industry. Fibre carries massive amounts of information as pulses of light over long distances without any reduction in quality. As a result, fibre is set to be the future of telecommunications. That’s because fibre is:

FAsTer With download speeds of up to 300Mbps and upload speeds of up to 30Mbps, fibre is blisteringly fast.

THInner So more fibres can be bundled together in the same space as a copper cable.

PUrer Fibre won’t lose the signal the way copper does. And because light signals don’t interfere with other fibres in the same cable, you get clearer conversations or TV signals.

lIGHTer An optical cable weighs less than a comparable copper cable and takes up less space.

DownloAD Is one THInG, BUT UPloAD Is THe reAl GAme-CHAnGerThere’s a lot of talk about download speeds, and they are important. But what really makes fibre so special is its upload speed. Higher download speeds let you tap into what’s available online. But faster upload speeds bring multi-tasking to life. For example, you could be uploading videos or photos at home while surfing the net or video calling on your tablet. At work, better upload speeds enable you to upload large files easily, and take advantage of online backup and internet telephony services. Fibre’s bigger bandwidth means faster uploads, and no potential bottlenecks. So everyone in the home or office can do what they want online – all at the same time.

inherently more reliable

longer lasting

able to carry more data over long distances

resistant to electromagnetic interference

immune to corrosion

secure and immune to crosstalk

Compared to copper, fibre is:

A lot of faster broadband talk revolves around fun things – movies on demand, downloading music, video calls – but the fact is, it’s probably going to have an ever bigger impact on the way we work. And changing the way we work – whether in an office or at home – will change the way we live.

Whether you own dedicated premises, run a full-time business from home, or just work from home now and again, faster broadband will help you punch above your weight.

Fibre will help you do everything you do today, but faster and even more effectively. Online file sharing, HD video conferencing and flexible working will help you save money and work more efficiently. More importantly, it opens up new opportunities as well...

What faster broadband means for local businesses

onlIne FIle sHArInGGet instant access to shared online workspaces and take collaborative working to a whole new level.

meDIA-HeAVY FIlesYou won’t have to wait ages to download massive, media heavy files. And there’ll be no more annoying lags or pauses.

HosTeD APPlICATIonsTake advantage of a growing raft of hosted applications – from customer information and transaction processing, to human resources and inventory management – available in the cloud.

DATA sTorAGe AnD BACKUPCombine hosted applications with online data storage and backup, and you’ll dramatically reduce the cost of computer hardware.

HD AnD 3D VIDeo ConFerenCInGTalk through and agree ideas face-to-face via full HD video calls with colleagues, customers and suppliers – anywhere in the world. It’s even possible to do it in 3D!

DITCH THe BlACK BoX?You may not even need the PC anymore, as operating systems and applications go online – to be accessed as and when needed.

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Free sUPPorT For BUsInesses ACross HereForDsHIre AnD GloUCesTersHIre

HelPInG YoU To sAVe TIme, sAVe moneY AnD ImProVe eFFICIenCYAs part of the Fastershire project to deliver fibre broadband, businesses in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire also have access to a range of free business support services to ensure they take full advantage of increased internet connectivity.

A business support package will help businesses boost their sales orders, accelerate their growth and increase productivity.

Visit www.fastershire.com/faster-business for more information.

Home-BAseD worKInG Is GooD For BUsIness GrowTHWhether it’s full-time, part-time or just now and again, the opportunity to work from home can be very advantageous.

Individuals can set up and build a business from a spare room, and small businesses can increase their workforce without having to rent additional space.

File sharing and video conferencing can provide a more flexible, efficient and cost-effective way of working, and will also cut down on the need to travel to meetings. Particularly handy when the snow starts to pile up outside!

With faster broadband you or your staff can work from home just as effectively as you would in the office. But remember, with HD video conferencing, you’ll need to change out of your pyjamas first...

oPenInG UP A wHole worlD oF BUsIness oPPorTUnITIesNo matter how isolated your location might be, faster broadband puts the world at your fingertips.

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If you use your PC, laptop or tablet at home to surf the web and check emails, you’d best strap yourself in. You’re in for a hell of a ride. Faster broadband opens up a whole new world!

Faster broadband at home: give yourself more room to live!

Whatever you’re into, faster broadband will make it quicker and easier. But let’s be clear: it isn’t just about doing one thing online much faster. It’s about everyone in the home being able to do their own thing online all at the same time.

worKInG From HomeWhether you work from home full-time, part-time or just now and again, you’ll be able to do everything online, just as if you were in the office.

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leArn onlIneWith faster broadband you can study online with flexible hours and video tutorials that work immediately.

VIDeo CAllInGUsing the internet for cheap telephone calls was once cutting edge. Now, 40 per cent of calls through Skype are video calls. Fibre opens up the world of HD video calling – rope in friends and family around the world and get together for a chat.

VIDeo on DemAnDStream HD or 3D movies to your TV, watch catch-up services, like BBC iPlayer and access YouTube video channels, online photo albums, live events and personalised radio stations.

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soCIAl neTworKInGSites like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are getting bigger, and it’s not just the amount of people, it’s the content – more videos, more pictures, more links to other sites. But current upload speeds have been holding people back from taking part. Until now...

VIrTUAl sTorAGeStore photos, documents, music and videos online – in the cloud – rather than on the computer at home. Fast upstream speeds mean backing up files is done in the blink of an eye – rather than feeling like a poke in it.

A recent survey by IsPreview.co.uk found that:

of people thought broadband was “critically important” to home life

80%would be put off buying a new home if it didn’t have a good broadband connection

80%would pay more for a property with faster broadband (more than 25mbps)

57%

Faster broadband is not just bringing benefits to homes and businesses – it has the potential to support and empower the whole community, transforming the way we provide services such as healthcare, education and local government.

HeAlTHFaster broadband opens up access to services like telehealth, which provides instant access to remote medical specialists via video conferencing from home. This service may even be integrated with internet-enabled diagnostic devices (blood pressure cuffs, respiration measurement, etc.), electronic medical records systems, online prescription services and online appointment scheduling.

In a rural community like ours, telehealth helps keep older adults living independently for longer, and saves long trips to see the GP for routine check-ups.

Delivering better health, education and local services

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eDUCATIonSchools will be able to use their expanded internet access to provide more interactive lessons and access online media to help create a more stimulating classroom environment.

loCAl serVICesFaster broadband can provide a foundation to transform the way council services are delivered. It will help make processes more efficient, open up systems to enable local peopleto help themselves and make it easier for everyone to have a say in how the community moves forward.

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This is a massive engineering feat!The aim of the Fastershire Broadband Project is to achieve the best possible long-term broadband coverage for the county within the resources available. It will take over a million engineer hours to build, involve laying thousands of miles of fibre and installing hundreds of new cabinets. With local weather and travel conditions in our rural counties to contend with, it’s a major planning and delivery project, and things don’t always go according to plan…

now, wHere DID we PUT THose DUCT BoXes?Take the upgrade work at South Cerney as an example. The team were working just off the A419 and didn’t have a smooth ride as the road that the duct boxes were originally alongside has been moved. Even though they had a map showing the original location, it took them a while to find the duct boxes as the area had become overgrown and they hadn’t needed to open up them up for some time.

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FAsTersHIre’s loCAl HeroesThe engineers delivering faster broadband for Herefordshire and Gloucestershire have the most physical, dirty and often coldest job of anyone involved in the project. But they’re a hardy lot, some being ex-armed forces, and more than up to the challenge.

oPenInG UP oPPorTUnITIes For YoUnG PeoPleFastershire is also opening up apprenticeship opportunities for young people. Charlie is 19, and is an apprentice working in the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area:

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“I am part of the BT openreach next Generation Access surveying and planning team. I survey the network to see where we can install fibre. I start off with a map of the area looking at where the cabinets are, what equipment is in the area and which addresses are fed off that equipment. I then go out to the area to survey the equipment, like poles and cabinets, to see what sort of condition they are in and have they got the capacity to support fibre.”

“The best part of my job is meeting new people and meeting locals. People like to come and talk to us and we get asked when fibre is coming to an area. The worst part has to be the weather! we have to work outside in all conditions, and even though we are fully kitted out it can be difficult.”

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We’re busy planning the roll out of the new network across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. It’ll be some time until we announce them all, but you can check the status of the exchange serving your property using the postcode checker on our website www.fastershire.com.

And if you can’t get it now, please register your interest and we’ll keep you posted.

So when can I get faster broadband?

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