Boughton Aluph & Eastwell Parishes Neighbourhood

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

CONNECTIVITY – EVIDENCE PAPER

This paper was originally drafted in December 2015. Developments since that time are covered in the Addendum.

INTRODUCTION

National Planning Policy Framework The National Planning Policy Framework includes the following statement on supporting high quality communications infrastructure:

Advanced, high quality communications infrastructure is essential for sustainable economic growth. The development of high speed broadband technology and other communications networks also plays a vital role in enhancing the provision of local community facilities and services.

Furthermore, in preparing Local Plans, there is a presumption that local planning authorities should support the expansion of electronic communications networks, including telecommunications and high speed broadband.

MOBILE PHONE NETWORK

Mobile Network Base Stations Information has been sourced from Ofcom, the communications regulator in the UK. According to the latest data set (2012), there are no mobile phone base stations (masts) within Boughton Aluph or Eastwell parishes. There are base stations just beyond the north, east and south borders of the parishes (Challock, Godmersham, Wye and Eureka, Ashford).[1]

Mobile Phone Coverage

Ofcom provide an online mobile coverage checker which displays on a map the signal level predictions provided by the four UK mobile network operators. In addition, Ofcom has tested actual coverage in various locations around the UK, and used the results to set the thresholds for voice calls used on the map. [2] The results for our parishes are as follows.

Voice calls and texts

Operator Location Goat Lees Sandyhurst Eastwell Boughton Boughton Lane Lees Aluph Vodafone Outdoor Indoor O2 Outdoor Indoor EE Outdoor Indoor Three Outdoor Indoor

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

Note: This table shows a sliding scale of coverage from green which are areas where you are likely to have good coverage to red which are areas where you are unlikely to receive a reliable signal. In amber areas you may experience some problems.

Outdoor All four networks provide a good signal throughout the parishes, although Three and EE have very small patches where the signal coverage is less good. These are located in the agricultural or unpopulated rural areas towards the North of the parishes on the Eastwell estate and in King’s Wood.

Indoor Vodafone and O2 provide good mobile phone coverage indoors across most of the parishes. EE and Three appear to have issues with indoor coverage across significant parts of the parishes, with particularly bad black spots around Eastwell and Sandyhurst Lane.

3G Data

Third generation data networks (more commonly known as 3G) allow mobile devices such as phones and tablets to use the internet for web browsing, email and connecting to corporate networks for work purposes. These 3G networks provide speeds comparable to regular ADSL connections in the home at speeds of up to 7.2mbps. Where regular fixed landline broadband technology is slow in the parishes, a good 3G signal can often provide faster internet.

Operator Location Goat Lees Sandyhurst Eastwell Boughton Boughton Lane Lees Aluph Vodafone Outdoor Indoor O2 Outdoor Indoor EE Outdoor Indoor Three Outdoor Indoor Note: This table shows a sliding scale of coverage from green which are areas where you are likely to have good coverage to red which are areas you should not expect to receive a signal. In amber areas you may experience some problems.

Vodafone and O2 offer good coverage of their 3G data network outdoors and indoors. EE and Three only offer reasonable coverage of their 3G data networks while outside. Indoor coverage for these two networks is almost universally poor.

For all providers the rural areas of the parishes to the North, comprising parts of Eastwell Park and Warren Farm, have particularly poor data coverage.

4G Data

Fourth generation data networks (more commonly known as 4G) allow mobile devices such as phones and tablets to use the internet for web browsing, email and connecting to corporate networks for work purposes. These 4G networks provide speeds comparable to fibre connections in

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

the home at speeds of up to 42mbps. A good 4G signal can provide considerably faster internet than most fixed line options within the parishes.

Vodafone and O2 offer good coverage of their 4G data network outdoors and indoors, with the common exception of indoor coverage in the Eastwell Park and Warren Farm. EE offers reasonable coverage of their 4G data network while outside. Indoor coverage is poor in most parts of the parishes. Three only offers outdoor coverage of its 4G data network in and around Goat Lees. Almost no indoor coverage is available.

Conclusion

Overall mobile telephone services are marginally better in Goat Lees with a choice of all four UK mobile network operators. Based on Ofcom data, the coverage in the other settlements of the parishes is considered to be adequate. Making the right choice of mobile network operator is more of an issue in these areas.

3G and 4G data services are well provided by two of the four national network providers across the parishes, the mainly agricultural and unpopulated rural areas to the North of the parishes being the exception. Again, it is a matter of making the right choice of network operator.

While fifteen contributors to our September community consultation did flag up a problem with mobile phone signal, for the purposes of the Neighbourhood Plan, based on the information provided by the regulator there is no clear evidence to support a new base station being sited within the boundary of the parishes. This might be considered welcome news as it is often the case that residents oppose the erection of unsightly masts in their area.

BROADBAND

In telecommunications, broadband is a wide bandwidth data transmission with an ability to simultaneously transport multiple signals and traffic types. In the context of Internet access the term broadband is used more loosely to mean any high-speed Internet access that is always on and faster than legacy dial-up access.

Fast broadband connectivity is now seen as a key service, essential not only for busy families but also for businesses and entrepreneurs across the UK. The latest data from Ofcom confirms 10Mbps is the

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

minimum speed needed to meet the demands of today’s typical family and small business, additionally, it is essential that services are reliable. In November 2015, the Prime Minister announced that access to fast broadband is to be put on a similar footing as other basic services, giving everyone a legal right to request a 10Mbps connection by end of this Parliament, no matter where in the UK they live.

Internet technology and its usage are expanding on a daily basis and there is good reason to assume that the criteria for determining the needs of communities will increase at a similar rate. In the year 2000 CNN Money[3] reported that the US Federal Communications Commission described high-speed access as being speeds over 200kbps whereas today in the UK the website MoneySupermarket.com[4] describes “medium users” as requiring 10-20Mpbs – a 50-100 fold leap in fifteen years.

While many rural communities, like our parishes, are still hoping to play “catch-up” it is highly likely that when they and we finally succeed the technology and demand will have moved on again. Robert Kenney and Tom Broughton, strategy consultants, predict in their report “Domestic demand for bandwidth” for the Broadband Stakeholders Group[5] “that the median household (in the UK) will require bandwidth of 19Mbps by 2023, whilst the top 1% of high usage households will have a demand of 35-39Mbps”. The indications are that whilst the Prime Minister’s figure may suffice for many households today it is unlikely to meet the needs and expectations of tomorrow.

Another key ingredient of an adequate broadband service is reliability, something which is not so predictable with wireless technologies like wi-fi and satellite but which is much more achievable with cable services providing they are capable, properly enabled and well-maintained.

Broadband Providers in the Parishes

While there are numerous Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who can give broadband access to homes and businesses in the parishes, there are only five core means of obtaining broadband as follows:

1. Fixed line infrastructure from BT Openreach. Both ADSL (up to 16Mbps) and fibre (up to 76Mbps) services are available to most in the parishes via this infrastructure and provided by numerous ISPs from BT themselves to Sky, TalkTalk and Plusnet amongst others. Additionally the BT Openreach cabinets and exchanges are enabled for 330Mbps “fibre to the premises” but this is not commercially available from any ISP. The parishes are served by two cabinets – most homes from one outside Eastwell Towers connected to the Ashford Exchange and those in the East of the parishes (Kempes Corner) by a cabinet in Wye connected to the Wye exchange.

The cabinet at Eastwell Towers (Ashford Cabinet 14) is connected to the Ashford Exchange by both metal (copper) cable and fibre-optic cable. Most properties at the Boughton Lees/Aluph end of the parishes are connected to Cabinet 14, all by metal cable, and from there they are connected either by fibre-optic or metal cable to the Ashford Exchange. There is insufficient fibre-optic capacity in Cabinet 14 for all properties, those which take up a fibre service normally achieve speeds of 10Mbps or more, whereas those on ADSL achieve considerably less, generally between 0.5 and 1.75Mbps. It is worth noting that even if capacity at Cabinet 14 were increased to accommodate all properties the physical length of the metal cables from many to the cabinet are too great for that mixture of technology to work.

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

2. Satellite broadband. Half a dozen different ISPs can offer relatively high speed (40Mbps) but prohibitively expensive broadband services. Satellite, although susceptible to the weather, is available to all properties that can point a satellite dish in the right direction.

The Minister for Culture Media and Sport, Ed Vaisey, announced in December 2015 that the Government was making grants of £350 available to households with speeds less than 2Mbps towards the cost of a dish, installation and to include a small amount towards the cost of a year’s subscription. The amount set aside for the scheme is £15m but if everyone in that position applied and were successful the cost of the scheme would be, based on figures published by the Government on May 8th 2015, over £250m so it is clearly not available for everyone. As with all other technologies it is important to bear in mind that maximum speeds available to subscribers are sometimes considerably less than those offered by providers.

3. Vfast Wireless broadband has been available for nearly a decade when the first signs of the so called "digital divide" appeared and it was recognised that large areas of Kent were being left behind in the rollout of broadband. Vfast cover the entire parishes at speeds of up to 24Mbps, but it requires line of sight to one of their masts. Given the undulations within the parishes, this rules out many homes. Users tell us that the service is generally reliable where available.

4. Virgin Media fibre. The south of the parishes around Goat Lees benefits from having had superfast fibre laid by Virgin Media, allowing speeds of up to 200Mbps.

5. Mobile 3G and 4G networks. Speeds of up to 42Mbps are available via mobile phone data networks in certain parts of the parishes.

Speed/Distance from Street Cabinet

The chart below sourced from the increaseyourbroadbandspeed.co.uk website shows the expected speed of BT’s Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) service for different distances from the street cabinet for a clean connection. Broadband users within about 300m of the street cabinet can expect to achieve about the maximum possible downlink connection speed (currently 80 Mbps). Speeds fall to about 60 Mbps when 500m away from the street cabinet and, at 1km, about 28 Mbps connection speed can be achieved. Properties in Boughton Aluph served by the cabinet at Eastwell Towers are c.2km away.

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

Chart of BT FTTC speed against distance from the street cabinet [6]

Broadband Test Speed Results

The thinkbroadband.com website provides details from internet users on real world experiences along with data provided from various Internet Service Providers (ISPs).[7]

The following map shows average speeds from consumers across the parishes and beyond the boundaries who submitted speed tests. Although it is not possible to ascertain what broadband provider the users are on, there is a clear pattern.

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

ADSL Anticipated Speeds

The following map shows the anticipated ADSL speeds that BT Openreach expect certain properties within the parishes to achieve. ADSL as a technology is capable of up to 16Mbps but is dependent on the distance from the Exchange to the property.

A red dot on the map indicates that using ADSL the property can expect to achieve no more than 2Mbps at best. An amber dot suggests speeds between 2Mbps and 8Mbps are achievable. A green dot suggests that the property will achieve much nearer to the maximum speeds.

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

Fibre Anticipated Speeds

The following map shows the anticipated fibre broadband speeds that BT Openreach expect certain properties within the parishes to achieve. Fibre as a technology is capable of up to 76Mbps but is dependent on the distance from the cabinet to the property.

The cabinet at Eastwell Towers was upgraded in April 2011 which has enabled more residents to be connected to fibre, resulting in an improved service but still only very modest speeds. Most of the lines in Boughton Lees are long, meaning that the properties receiving the service are too far away from the cabinet to sensibly benefit from the fibre enablement. In addition, the cabinet is showing as full on BT’s systems with a waiting list for accepting orders.

A red dot on the map indicates that using fibre the property can expect to achieve no more than 4Mbps at best. An amber dot suggests speeds between 4Mbps and 24Mbps are achievable. A green dot suggests that the property will achieve much nearer to the maximum speeds.

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

Virgin Media Coverage

The following map shows which parts of the parishes, by way of a green dot, are covered by Virgin Media’s own fibre network. In theory this should provide up to 200Mbps ultra high speed broadband to all those covered.

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

Mobile Broadband

The sections on the Mobile Phone Networks at the beginning of this document provide an overview of coverage of 3G and 4G broadband data within the parishes.

Conclusion

There is a clear digital divide within the parishes. Of the five methods of obtaining broadband the four that are not reliant on BT Openreach and its legacy infrastructure all have certain disadvantages:

- Virgin Media is only available in the South of the parishes. - 3G/4G data is prohibitively expensive and there are some black spots within the parishes. - Satellite, while available to all, is also expensive, subject to a lot of contention and has such a high latency that it is unsuitable for many mainstream activities like Voice Over IP (VOIP) services such as Skype. - Vfast, while being reasonably priced, is not available to all homes within the parishes due to the topology of the area and requiring line of sight to a Vfast mast.

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

When assessing the most ubiquitous option of delivering broadband over BT Openreach’s infrastructure – the same that provides people’s telephones – the North of the parishes suffers tremendously.

Borne out by the independent speed test result map, feedback from the September community consultation and a survey conducted by the local Residents’ Association, the areas of Boughton Lees, Boughton Aluph and Eastwell are in a broadband wilderness. With speeds for some of only around 1% of what is available in Goat Lees and Sandyhurst Lane, the North of the parishes has access to the Internet something akin to what the rest of the country had twenty years ago.

Just beyond the borders of the parishes both Challock and Wye are significantly richer in terms of broadband speeds thanks to having their own BT Exchanges.

Clearly in the digital age the vacuum of fast broadband in a significant element of the parishes is of concern to residents and was the fourth most commented on issue at our September community consultation events. As such, for the purposes of the Neighbourhood Plan, any development to increase speeds and bring the whole parishes into the 21st century must be considered essential.

In terms of improving the speeds available over BT Openreach’s network a fibre enabled cabinet, with sufficient capacity for lines, needs to be installed in the heart of the parishes (Boughton Lees). Additionally, the cabling from the cabinets to the home would benefit from being upgraded. While sufficient for analogue voice calls, they are wholly unsuitable in parts for digital high-speed broadband.

Despite local lobbying, the parishes was not included in the first round of Kent Rural Broadband “Making Kent Quicker” programme to improve broadband infrastructure. However, in correspondence with the Borough Councillor, the team leader at Kent County Council has said:

“Boughton Lees is in scope for our second BDUK BT contract (due to begin January next year and run to late summer 2018) as speeds are generally less than Superfast….I do expect to see a solution (possibly a new Cabinet included somewhere in Boughton Lees) specifically to address the long line lengths (and also relieve the pressure on Ashford Cabinet 14) in our second contract. I have no data on timing yet for you I’m afraid. As soon as we have some sensible data to release we will publish it on our website.”

Equally, having Virgin Media’s fibre laid to the North of the parishes, or more Vfast masts visible would provide competition of reasonably priced broadband services in the area.

December 2015

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

ADDENDUM - OCTOBER 2018

Neighbourhood Plan Survey Responses on Broadband Connectivity[8]

The household survey held in 2016 asked “Do you or your family currently experience a problem with the performance of your broadband connection?” Just under half (49%) of those surveyed reported that they experienced a problem with the performance of their broadband connection.

% Yes, at home 49 Yes, at work (if within the parishes) 6 No 46 I do not have an internet connection 5

184 comments were supplied describing problems with broadband connections, 147 of which centred on issues with speed.

Local Plan on Broadband Connectivity

Ashford Borough Council’s Local Plan 2030[9] recognises that the availability, reliability and speed of broadband provision is a key consideration for house buyers which is viewed as essential as the standard utilities. Similarly, it is also a key concern for the business sector. The Ashford Local Plan 2030 contains the following policy.

Policy EMP6 - Promotion of Fibre to the Premises (FTTP)

All residential and employment developments within the Ashford urban area, including the site allocations promoted in this Plan which adjoin Ashford, will enable FTTP. In the rural area, all residential developments over 10 dwellings and reasonably sized employment proposals shall enable FTTP.

For schemes under these thresholds the Council’s expectation is that provision for FTTP will be achieved, where practical.

Where it can be demonstrated that fibre to the premise is not practical due to special circumstances, then non Next Generation Access technologies that can provide speeds in excess of 24Mbps should be delivered wherever practical.

Kent Rural Broadband Programme - Making Kent Quicker

The North East of the village of Boughton Lees with the slowest broadband speeds (see map below) was included in the second phase of the Kent Rural Broadband Making Kent Quicker programme. This was a part of central government’s Broadband Delivery UK initiative to improve access to superfast broadband services. The scope of the project was to include as many homes as possible and to reach those with broadband speeds of less than 1Mbps.

A new broadband cabinet 106 was installed on the village green in April 2017. Following a series of hitches the cabinet became operational in August 2018. Depending on the user’s Internet Service Provider package, this has provided connected households with a broadband speed of up to 70Mbps, leap frogging the village households still connected to the cabinet 14 at Eastwell Towers which still have speeds closer to 25Mbps. Clearly, there is a strong case for all village households to

BOUGHTON ALUPH & EASTWELL PARISHES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

be connected to the new cabinet but this will be part of BT’s general infrastructure upgrade and not without issue. The BT Openreach Project Manager advises that:

The copper cable runs into the village are unusual and have grown over the years. The positioning of the cabinet was very difficult and the scope of the project was to include as many homes as possible and to reach those customers that get less that 1mg.

Unfortunately, the existing copper cable cannot be extended or altered to this cabinet as the duct work doesn’t run to the cabinet direct for those houses on the south west as they come from the other cabinet.

Map showing village residences connected to the new cabinet 106 located on the village green

While there has been a significant improvement in connectivity in the village of Boughton Lees, it does not create parity of service across the parishes. While the service might be expected to be slower in a rural location, it will be important to ensure that Boughton Lees does not get left behind again. In particular, those properties which are not currently connected to cabinet 106.

Conclusion

In relation to development at Eureka Park (S20) and future residential development of over 10 dwellings in our parishes, we can rely on Policy EMP6 - Promotion of Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) in Ashford Borough Council’s Local Plan.

In relation to connectivity of the existing housing provision in our parishes, this is not related to the development of land and therefore to include a policy in the Neighbourhood Plan would be unlawful. The installation of a new broadband cabinet at Boughton Lees has ensured that all households in the village have access to faster broadband.

Author – Erica Lasparini October 2018

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Sources

[1] - http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/ [2] - http://www.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage [3] - http://money.cnn.com/2000/11/01/technology/fcc.dsl/ [4] - http://www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband/speed/ [5] – www.broadbanduk.org [6] - http://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/ [7] - http://maps.thinkbroadband.com [8] - http://www.parishplan.uk/baesrf.pdf [9] - https://www.ashford.gov.uk/media/5464/submission-version-of-plan.pdf