Readers will remember that at the September Cabinet meeting a split decision was over the Rural Broadband Project. Five Cabinet members voted in support and three abstained.
It was agreed that several conditions would be attached to the terms of the contract.
Contract sealed on 30th September
The Isle of Wight council have today confirmed that the contract terms have been agreed by BT and that they are mobilising their resources to implement the project.
A spokesperson for the council said,
“The contract was duly sealed by the council on 30 September.
“Planning and survey works have commenced and the first cabinets are expected to be installed in July next year. Works are due to be completed by September 2015.”
Held to account
Cllr Shirley Smart, cabinet member for tourism and economy, said that BT would be held to account if they do not deliver on the contractual arrangements for Next Generation Access rural broadband.
Decision disputed by local firms
Following the September cabinet decision, High Point Infrastructure argued that IWC officers’ analysis was ‘invalid’ making the decision ‘illegal’.
Isle of Wight broadband provider [and advertiser with OnTheWight], WightFibre, also said that legal action was not being ruled out.
The conditions
The conditions BT need to meet are set out below.
(a) A joint investment of £6.4 million to deploy superfast broadband across the intervention area on the Island.
(b) A £1.2 million Innovation Fund under the control of the council.
(c) 99% of premises across the Island will have NGA infrastructure deployed by September 2015.
(d) 100% of premises to receive a minimum of 2mpbs
(e) 97% of premises in the intervention area to have an NGA connection (min 30 mbps) post project
(f) 87% of premises in the intervention area to have immediate access to superfast broadband speeds (min 24 mbps) post project
(g) Potential for at least 60 ISP providers in the intervention area
(h) 96% of premises on Isle of Wight to have immediate access to superfast broadband speeds (min 24 mbps) post project
(i) A robust protocol between the council, the supplier (BT Openreach) and Island Roads to ensure highways are not dug up twice (or more) to provide for cost savings.
(j) Planned completion of the main roll out by September 2015
(k) Dedicated BT project lead and support appropriate to the roll out programme.
(l) Continued benefits from BT’s development of new technologies and products as they become available.
Image: Tompagenet under CC BY 2.0
