Last Updated 21-05-2012

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) 

Latest copy of the superfast Northamptonshire Newsletter 5 Superfast Broadband Newsletter 5- May 2012

Market Exchanges for Northamptonshire

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