We are busy building an FTTP network in rural Buckinghamshire. It is a
'for profit' enterprise, but we are still very much hands on at this
stage as everything has been privately funded and money is therefore tight.
You are more than welcome to drop me a line off-list if you would like
any advice on the actual build. I'm not an expert by any means and I
learn something new every day, but I have gained a bit of experience
throughout the process and can probably give you a few do/don't
pointers. You might also want to follow @ecomfttp on Twitter too as I
try to post up as many photos as I can showing the build process which
will give you some idea of how we are going about things.
A lot of Community Broadband folks we speak to are worried that BT or
someone similar may choose to over-build their infrastructure with
FTTC or FTTP. There is a risk of that, but my advice is usually; if
you can move quickly, sign up the customers and provide a good service
- customers will be very sticky, even when BT builds super fast in
your area. The chances are if BT aren’t planning to build in your
area just now, they’re not likely to in the short/medium term.
Unfortunately it is not just Openreach who play the 'thank for proving
demand, we'll take it from here' game. Gigaclear seem to be following
suit and are my biggest concern with our project. Another local FTTP
provider had them build down the opposite side of the same road that
they were building in a tiny, rural village. I understand OR
overbuilding, they have the infrastructure in the ground already after
all, but with so many other villages around here without superfast this
seems highly predatory to me.
