Last Updated 22-12-2012

The Background

There are currently 89 exchanges which serve all post code premises in Northamptonshire, of which 68 are actually located in the county.  There are 24 exchanges that are either wholly or the majority within Northamptonshire that are local loop unbundled, with a further 5 bordering the county and covering small parts of Northamptonshire.  These exchanges are located in the more densely populated areas of the county.

In these 24 exchanges (covering approximately 80% of the market) at least one other Service Provider offers DSL services in addition to BT.  These include AOL, Bulldog, O2, Orange, Sky, Talk Talk and Tiscali.  In all other exchanges (covering the remaining 20% of the market) only BT offers DSL services

The County Council continues to work proactively to inform the commercial upgrade of exchanges and investment in broadband infrastructure in the county. Ongoing discussions have ensured that the implications of supporting a growing economy in Northamptonshire are fully considered in the telecoms industries’ forward plans and investment decisions.

The exchanges already identified for NGA upgrades are all considered Market 2 and 3 exchanges according to OFCOM categorisation (please see map below). It is expected that the majority of Northamptonshire’s market 2 and all market 3 exchanges will be upgraded as part of the two-thirds commercial roll out BT are completing nationwide, the analysis of expected “white areas” or those areas that will areas not be upgraded to NGA

In Northamptonshire the Market 2 and 3 exchanges cover 80% of the residential premises and 81.5% of the business premises in the county, with the remainder in Market 1 areas. However, Market 1 areas cover over 72% of the geography of Northamptonshire in spatial terms.

Northamptonshire County Council has made significant financial commitments related to the Superfast Northamptonshire project. The County Council invested £50,000 in the Propel project led by the University of Northampton, which examined the options for superfast broadband in Northamptonshire. £180,000 and £900,000 has been committed by the County Council to support its ‘channel shift’ and libraries based People’s Network activity. £100,000 has been identified for demand stimulation measures within our Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) bid to support the take up of IT and broadband connection by disadvantaged groups in rural areas (the delivery project will learn from the home access approach for young people and also projects by Age concern). In addition to this, a further £105,000 has been identified to support the development of a web based and mobile App to support the Northamptonshire Connect service. Engagement with local public and private sector stakeholders to date has confirmed significant support for the objectives and outcomes of our BDUK bid including, amongst others, those listed below:

• Northamptonshire County Council
• Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership
• The 7 Northamptonshire MPs The Institute of Directors
• University of Northampton The Federation of Small Businesses
• Northampton College Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce
• Daventry District Council Rockingham Castle Estate
• East Northamptonshire Council Silverstone Circuits Limited
• Borough of Wellingborough Council Rolton Group Limited
• Kettering Borough Council Carlsberg UK Ltd
• Northampton Borough Council
• Wincanton Plc
• St Johns Ambulance
• St Andrew’s Hospital
• Northamptonshire County Association of Local Councils (representing 180 town and parish councils)
• Northamptonshire ACRE (the rural community council for the county) 

The Local Body is committed to a strong prosperity agenda and developing innovative approaches to stimulate infrastructure-led economic growth, including through an NGA network.  Investment in infrastructure such as roads, rail and NGA is crucial to releasing new development, generating value and stimulating economic growth. 

Access to superfast broadband across Northamptonshire is essential to businesses, for education, for entertainment and increasingly for accessing many public services.   It is increasingly becoming a major factor influencing locational choice for residents and businesses as the “fourth utility” affecting quality of life opportunities.  It can also help to reduce social exclusion and help people retain their independence for longer.  It is therefore crucial to future prosperity and well-being.

Growth is a key to accessing additional private sector and central Government funding for investment in infrastructure and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.  This is important as it supports and justifies capital investment at a time when such spending is limited, with many programmes reduced, scaled back, delayed or cut altogether.  What is also clear is that a ‘business-as-usual’ approach will not work.  Instead, there needs to be a more innovative approach to stimulating investment. The Northamptonshire Arc  sets out the Local Body’s ambitions in this respect. 

The Northamptonshire Arc is a spatial concept adopted by the Local Body in July 2011 as a framework and key driver for its prosperity agenda. This is one of the first approaches of its type in the country which looks at future economic growth, the environment and connectivity through an integrated approach to infrastructure and wider activity.  The Northamptonshire Arc provides the strategic context for future plans and infrastructure investment.  It embraces enterprise and innovation, NGA, rail, highways and many other forms of infrastructure.

The Arc represents a long-term ‘prospectus’ and investment plan for the county

The Arc has 4 strands which can be found below
Connecting Northamptonshire
A prosperity plan for Northamptonshire
Enterprising Northants
Towards a Naturally Resilient Low Carbon Northamptonshire

On the Northamptonshire County Council broadband page there is a link to our latest superfast Newsletter which gives further detail on the procurement process

Superfast Newsletter Archieve
Superfast Broadband newsletter 1 – March edition
11-04-20 Superfast Broadband newsletter 2 – April 2011
Superfast Northamptonshire Newsletter- September
Superfast Broadband Newsletter 5- May 2012
Superfast Northamptonshire Newsletter 6
Superfast Northamptonshire Newsletter 7
Superfast Northamptonshire Newsletter 8