Broadband

News

18 November 2025 – Wessex Internet are in the process of checking the feasibility of using BT ducts and poles to bring Fibre To The premises (FTTP) throughout Briantspuddle. Once the work is assessed their intention is to make a leaflet drop and then give a presentation organised through the Parish Council. If successful this will give the opportunity for households who want high speed internet to sign up to Wessex Internet.

Current Situation

The Parish is served with both Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) by Openreach and Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) by Wessex Internet. There is only one Cabinet in the Parish, sited near the existing Telephone cabinet by the bridges at the northern entrance to Briantspuddle. Both cabinets are fed from the Bere Regis Telephone Exchange via underground cables across the fields. Rogers Hill, Throop and Brockhill take their telephone service direct from the Bere Regis Exchange. Affpuddle takes it’s telephone service from the Exchange in Puddletown and Waddock and Pallington Heath take their telephone service from the Exchange in Wool.

Wessex Internet are independent of the Telephone Exchange network and deliver a one to one, end to end service, constrained only by the limits of their own largely underground network. Openreach deliver a solution utilizing existing Exchanges, poles and ducts.

The majority of households in Briantspuddle within easy reach of the Fibre Cabinet take their broadband service from it. Households on the edges of the village can get a reduced service due to distance from the Cabinet but have been able to take advantage of Wessex Internet or use 4G. Households in Affpuddle, Rogers Hill, Throop, Brockhill, Waddock and Pallington Heath are similarly poorly placed and have also been able to take advantage of Wessex Internet.

When Ofcom produces a plan to convert everyone to FTTP the problem becomes a means of back up due to lack of copper landline provision for use in an emergency. The following extract for Ofcom press release in March 2021 is relevant:

“Closing the copper network

As it lays new fibre to replace ageing copper lines, Openreach should not have the unnecessary costs of running two parallel networks. So when Openreach has rolled out full fibre in a particular area, we will progressively remove regulation on its copper products over a number of years. This will improve the business case for Openreach to invest, by removing the need for it to maintain two networks, while promoting the take-up of faster fibre services. Customers will be protected during this transition to ensure they can continue to access their services – particularly those in vulnerable circumstances.

Duct and pole access

We have already levelled the playing field by making it significantly cheaper, quicker and easier for BT’s rivals to build their networks, by giving them better access to Openreach’s underground ducts and telegraph poles. This can halve the upfront costs of connecting a home. Order volumes last year to use this infrastructure covered over 23,000km of duct and over 140,000 poles, up from 2,500km and 12,000 respectively the previous year.”

The more remote households with broadband speeds of less than 10 Mbs.

These housholds are entitled to help from Ofcom’s Universal Service Obligation (USO), run by BT. This is not a group option. It offers a solution to people who receive less than 10Mbps and in most cases the solution offered would be a Home 4G Hub (this can get you speeds in the region of 30Mbps). When a 4G Hub solution is not suitable the USO can offer a subsidy towards full fibre installation. The pros and cons of Home 4G Broadband are:

Pros:
Portable – can be taken anywhere as long as there is a plug
Can be a much faster option over broadband (depending on the package)
More flexible plans available – 1 month through to 24 months
Ideal if you struggle to get fixed line broadband
Cons: 
4G can end up costing more overall than regular broadband
Most plans carry download limits
4G broadband can be patchy in areas making it less reliable

For more information on the USO go to www.bt.com/broadband/USO

Perhaps the most important thing is to check that the household installation is in good condition ….