Superfast Stocksfield!

Superfast broadband is here (mostly)

First the good news. In September and October six of the seven fibre optic broadband cabinets served by the Stocksfield telephone exchange went live and are now accepting orders from customers. These are:

• Cabinet 1 - junction of Painshawfield Road and Apperley Rd
• Cabinet 3 - Station
• Cabinet 4 - Mickley Square
• Cabinet 6 (top end of Painshawfield Road, opposite Snowdrop Cottage)
• Cabinet 5 - Main Rd opp Cadehill Road
• Cabinet 7 - Main Rd, Branch End, outside Boots

If you are connected to one of these cabinets you are potentially able to take advantage of superfast broadband. The maximum speeds available are 80 Mbps download  and 20 Mbps upload, though the actual speed will depend, as always, on the distance of the property from the cabinet.

Sadly, fibre Cabinet 2 (Meadowfield Road) still requires surveys and other checks regarding its location and so is still very early in the process. The latest information is that this cabinet will not be completed before summer  2015.

You can find out which cabinet you are connected to at https://www.btwholesale.com/adslchecker.
For up-to-date details about the Stocksfield exchange see http://www.inorthumberland.org.uk/stocksfield/.

Key Facts

• The upgrade to superfast broadband doesn't happen automatically; you need to order a fibre broadband package. See http://www.inorthumberland.org.uk/upgrade/ 
• You don't have to get it from BT, other suppliers are available. https://www.cable.co.uk/inorthumberland/ shows some of the deals available.
• It doesn't necessarily cost more to upgrade and you may find you are able to pay a similar price for superfast broadband as you are currently paying for regular broabdband.
• For more details on superfast broadband see http://www.inorthumberland.org.uk/about/faqs/ 

If the cabinet you are connected to has been upgraded but, because your property is too far from the cabinet to be able to order superfast broadband:

• iNorthumberland has attracted additional funding from Northumberland County Council and Central Government for a further phase of the roll out. The Council is currently evaluating the best way to spend this funding and more details will be made available in due course.
• Alternatives to fibre exist. For example, Newton and parts of Bywell are served by a wireless superfast network provided by Wildcard. Satellite broadband is also available. For more details see http://www.inorthumberland.org.uk/satellite/