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WiSpire - a solution to Costessey Broadband speeds?

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As BT seems to be dragging it’s heels updating the Broadband infrastructure in Costessey, a possible alternative solutions may lie with a company call WiSpire. WiSpire is a new innovation that aims to improve broadband speeds to rural villages by using Church Spires as fixed wireless points.

WiSpire is a joint venture between the Diocese of Norwich and FreeClix and aims to provide better broadband services to the whole of the county as opposed to the high populated areas. Not only can WiSpire provide broadband via fibre optic and ADSL connections, we also use parish churches across the county as the platform to deliver high speed reliable wireless broadband internet access to local businesses, schools and residents in areas where speed is currently poor.

It works by installing using church towers as a fixed wireless point:

Using church towers as a fixed wireless point, we are able to transmit a signal from site to site creating a network of different locations interconnected with each other. These sites are then able to transmit a signal to homes, businesses and schools.

Each customer that subscribes to WiSpire has a receiver at the top of their property which brings the signal into the building via a cable. This is then plugged into the router in the building enabling a secure wireless transmission around the building.

As we don’t use any of the existing cabling in the ground you don’t need a phone line to receive the service.

wispire

WiSpire say that if 25 people within an area register their interest they will install the service, Costessey currently stands at 19 people who have registered their interested at time of writing.

To register your interest in the service, click here.

The service starts from just £13.99 a month with a one-off £59.99 installation charge. There are faster packages available with higher limits available for businesses and for heavier home users. Remember that this service does not need a phone line, so if you can live without a land line you wouldn’t need to pay the monthly line rental as you do for standard broadband.

Find out more about this service from WiSpire.co.uk and if you register your interest, let us know in the comments.

UPDATE: 25 people have registered their interest in the Costessey area, and the status has now changed to ‘Awaiting Installation’! When anyone gets this service, please let us know on Twitter (@CostesseyNet)

Thanks to Simon Long for letting us know about this service.

BT Openreach postpones Costessey roll-out again

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25

BT Openreach have once again postponed the roll-out of their Superfast broadband to Costessey.

According to their website the date is now December 2012, which has been put back from September 2012, and before that July 2012.

We contacted BT, and their response was,

All dates are provisional and subject to change, keep an eye on the website for latest updates.

So again we have to wait to get better than 2mb broadband (which is the average in Costessey) via BT. Will they hit their December target? With their recent history, I wouldn’t hold your breath although fingers crossed … again!

Delay to Super Fast BT Broadband Roll Out

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As previously reported in this post, BT were set to roll out their Super Fast Broadband service in July this year. However after recently checking the Openreach site it now looks like it’s been pushed back until September.

Will they stick to this date? Who knows, this is BT we’re talking about, but I sure hope they do!

'Superfast' Broadband edging closer to Costessey

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It looks like the BT Exchange in new Costessey is to be updated in June this year proving ‘Superfast’ broadband of up to 40mbps. This is compared to the average 2.5mbps that most residents in Costessey are currently getting.

According to the BT OpenReach website, their map shows that the Exchange on Three Mile Lane will be upgraded in June which will allow BT and other providers to offer the ‘Superfast’ connection.

These new higher speeds will no doubt be offered at a higher cost to the current packages on offer, but the increased speeds will bring large benefits to many people who have suffered the relatively slow speeds in the area for years now.

There is no word when BT and other providers will start taking orders for this improved service, but keep on the lookout from after the June upgrade date.