Better Broadband

Better Broadband is a partnership between the Council and full-fibre broadband providers that will see full-fibre connectivity rolled out to Council homes. This will give you the option to take up a full-fibre broadband service from one of the new providers if you live in a Council home.

As well as providing access to fast broadband, the Better Broadband partnership will provide other benefits, including some discounts to help tackle digital exclusion, new broadband connections for community facilities, and digital training, apprenticeship and job opportunities for local people.

Better Broadband currently includes the following full fibre broadband providers:

• Community Fibre
• Hyperoptic

Full fibre is a type of broadband connectivity that uses fibre optic cables run directly to homes or buildings, rather than the old-style copper wiring used in standard internet services. It’s the fastest and most reliable type of broadband, allowing households to use multiple internet services and different devices at the same time without a drop in service.

Full fibre broadband has not previously been available on any Council estates in Hackney. Only around 18% households across the UK currently have access to full fibre.

The providers signed up to Better Broadband will be installing full fibre connections across Council estates in Hackney from spring 2021.

Once an estate is connected, the providers will directly advertise broadband services to residents, who can choose whether or not they wish to take up any of the offers available.

This is just another option for residents in addition to existing broadband providers, and residents are under no obligation to sign up to a new service.

We can’t guarantee that the full fibre broadband providers will cover all Council homes, but our agreement will ensure that at least 80% of Council homes in Hackney will be covered in the next two years, with as wide a spread across the borough as possible.

This is much higher coverage than would normally be offered by full fibre broadband providers, as they normally focus on areas with a bigger market of customers or where it’s easier to install full fibre.

Better Broadband will:

• deliver a full fibre connection to at least 80% of Council homes within three years
• provide free connections to community halls and other local facilities
• provide apprenticeships, employment opportunities and digital skills training for local residents
• offer targeted discounts to some residents who are in financial hardship and are digitally excluded

Broadband installations are usually relatively straightforward and don’t involve major work, but there will be some short term visible works on estates.

Installing it typically involves running cabling up or down the outside of a building, which may require abseiling or the use of equipment for working at heights, or sometimes installing cabling through the communal parts of a building.

The broadband providers won’t need access inside your home, unless you’ve ordered services from them.

The broadband providers will let you know when installations are taking place and take steps to keep disruption to a minimum. You’ll be contacted in advance of any work on your estate with full details.

The Council isn’t funding this work, or delivering the services directly. The internet services are provided in a similar way to other utilities.

The fibre broadband installations will be fully funded and managed by the broadband providers. We’ll be giving the providers access so they can install new connections to our properties.

We’ll be working closely with them to make sure work is completed to a high standard and in accordance with best practice, is safe and compliant with all regulations, and is carried out in a way that’s sensitive to residents’ needs.

No. There will be no installation cost to tenants and leaseholders (or the Council).

All installations will be carried out at the broadband provider’s cost.

You can choose to take up a new full fibre internet service for a monthly fee, but there is no obligation to do this.

The full fibre providers offer a range of packages at different speeds and at different prices.

The performance is much better than standard broadband, and the packages are often similarly priced or even cheaper – including for the most affordable entry level packages.

You can find the menu of options and prices on their websites and see for yourself.

Full fibre is ‘gigabit-capable’, meaning you can get download speeds of up to 1000 mbps (or more).

For context, this is over 15 times faster than the normal (median) download speed in Hackney of 64 mbps.

At these speeds you can download an HD movie in under a minute.

You can also get much faster upload speeds. Full fibre is more reliable than copper-based networks, and suffers from 5x fewer faults.

Consumer broadband capacity is shared between the users in an area (so your connection is ‘contended’, unlike a dedicated business connection).

However, the providers aim to build enough capacity in their networks to enable everyone to access the internet without limitations due to high traffic.

Because full fibre broadband infrastructure is newly built and designed to have a very high capacity, you’re unlikely to have problems due to high traffic/demand.

Terms and conditions vary from provider to provider, and you should always check the contract carefully yourself before ordering a service.

Unlike many mainstream internet providers, some full fibre providers offer short term rolling contracts, without long lock-in periods.

They may also have only small, capped cancellation fees if you want to end your contract early.