High speed broadband is planned for all homes in Kingswells Village by the end of 2017. For avoidance of doubt, this includes the 774 homes currently connected to TPON network in the Derbeth, Concraig and Wellside areas.
Lib Dem councillor Steve Delaney has been campaigning for full coverage of high speed broadband in Kingswells over the past five years, working with Aberdeen City Council, BT, Digital Scotland and the Scottish Government to press the case and ensure delivery under the current programme of works which concludes in the next few months.
He was also instrumental in pushing for a solution for the slowest lines in Kingswells, the ones connected directly to the Westhill Telephone Exchange, something which has now been delivered.
Steve said, “I’m absolutely delighted to see the end is finally in sight. Back in April I spoke of there being some good news in respect of Kingswells broadband and I’m pleased to say I am now in a position to offer some detail on that”.
“I met with BT’s Regional Director a few weeks ago to discuss the remaining properties which do not currently have access to high speed broadband. We also discussed ongoing issues with a lack of capacity for new lines in the area served by cabinet 11 (Kingswood Avenue area and Fairley road area including the new Dandara/Stewart Milne development) as well as connection for rural properties”.
Works have commenced and are ongoing in the TPON areas. The target date for completion is the end of 2017, though this may possibly slip. The connection in these areas will be made directly to the premises (FTTP) allowing potential speeds of up to 300Mbps, though actual speed will depend upon your provider and the packages they offer. These areas, which are having to wait longer than the rest of Kingswells to get a decent speed, have the potential for the fastest speeds currently available in Aberdeen.
Steve added, “The TPON network will remain connected for the meantime as there’s costs associated with the faster speeds and some people may be happy to remain on the old system, so there’s no issue about anyone being cut off, though it is expected that most people will upgrade. Details of timescale for specific addresses are not yet clear but the information on www.scotlandsuperfast.com will be updated as the roll out commences, with the first updates expected in the next few weeks”
“This has been a long time incoming but unfortunately there’s still work to be done. The capacity issue at cabinet 11 remains, though it will be addressed in the coming months. Some rural addresses on the outskirts of Kingswells will be upgraded as part of this programme, others will not. Some rural addresses will see an improvement in speed short of an upgrade, others will not. Unfortunately 100% coverage will not be achieved as part of the current programme”.