Fastershire is a partnership between Herefordshire Council and Gloucestershire County Council to bring faster broadband to the two counties, with funding from central government’s Broadband Delivery UK matched by the local authorities. The ultimate aim is that by the end of 2022 there will be access to fast broadband for all who need it.
However, Fastershire is not only about technology, the project also includes social and digital inclusion activities, and an extensive business support programme, FasterBusiness. The programme is designed to help small and medium size businesses get the most from fibre broadband and be more competitive. In fact, it is expected that Fastershire will help to boost the local economy by £420m over the next ten years.
Fastershire will revolutionise the way that people of all ages across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire work, learn and play, and will benefit generations to come.
The Rollout
Phase 2 of the Fastershire rollout of faster broadband across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire will be based around four areas (area 1, 2, 3(A-E) & 4) and will comprise of premises that were not covered by Phase 1 or commercial rollout.
Each went through its own consultation and procurement process to secure a supplier to carry out the deployment.
All information, including forecast dates, is indicative only. Forecast dates may move forwards as well as backwards.
Area 1: The Cotswolds
Area 2: The Forest of Dean
Area 3A: Cheltenham and Gloucester
Area 3B: Hereford
Area 3C: South Herefordshire and Gloucestershire (west of the Severn)
Area 3D: North Gloucestershire
Area 3E: South Gloucestershire
Area 4: North Herefordshire
Area 1: Cotswolds
Gigaclear was awarded the contract to deliver phase 2 in the Cotswolds in summer 2015. The first digging for our delivery of ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premises to parts of the Cotswolds began in October 2015 and is now complete.
The rollout covered areas of Andoversford, Bibury, Bourton On The Water, Cirencester, Coberley, Coln St.Aldwyn, Cricklade, Fairford, Fossebridge, Guiting Power, Kemble, Kempsford, Lechlade, Miserden, North Cerney, Northleach, Poulton, South Cerney, Southrop, Stow-On-The-Wold, Windrush and Withington not upgraded to faster broadband in Phase 1.
Area 2: Forest of Dean
We have awarded a contract to Gigaclear to deliver the phase 2 rollout in parts of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and the Golden Valley in Herefordshire not upgraded to faster broadband in Phase 1.
Area 3(A-E) & 4: The rest of the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire
Area 3A-B (Cheltenham and Gloucester) and area 3B (Hereford)
We have awarded a contract to BT Group to deliver the phase two rollout
in these areas not upgraded to faster broadband.
Area 3(C-E) & 4: The rest of the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire
We have awarded a contract to Gigaclear to deliver the phase two rollout in these areas not upgraded to faster broadband in Phase 1.
Area 3C (South Herefordshire)
Area 3D (North Gloucestershire)
Area 3E (South Gloucestershire)
Area 4 (North Herefordshire)
To find out if your property is included in this next phase of rollout please use our address checker at the top of the page.
Fastershire Strategy
Phase 1 of the Fastershire strategy has provided
approximately 90% of the homes and businesses across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire with access to superfast broadband and speeds of 30Mbps or above.
Over the next two years, phase 2 of the project’s strategy will increase total superfast coverage to around 98%, as phase 2 seeks to provide faster broadband to premises that were not covered by Phase 1 or commercial rollout.
Phase 2
Stage 3 – Hereford, Gloucestershire and Cheltenham
Stage 3 of the Fastershire rollout sees BT continuing to
deliver in Hereford, Gloucestershire and Cheltenham and build on their
commercial deployment.
Stage 3 - Rural Herefordshire and Gloucestershire
Gigaclear has been awarded the Fastershire delivery contract
for rural areas of the county.
Gigaclear is a wholesale network provider and internet
service provider (ISP) who specialise in connecting rural communities by
installing its pure fibre network straight into the property.
Pure fibre, also known as Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) offers a more future-proof solution and
broadband speeds of up to 1000Mbps. This technology is not affected by how far
your home is from the network cabinet and the connection is symmetric so you
get the same upload and download speeds.
Stage 4
For the remaining, hardest to
reach properties, Fastershire is using a mix of solutions, including a bespoke
grants and contract extensions.
Business Grant
Fastershire, in partnership with Connecting Shropshire and
Superfast Telford and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund,
have designed the Marches and Gloucestershire Broadband Grant.
The grant provides up to 100% of the capital installation
cost for an eligible SME that not be included in Fastershire’s main rollout and
that can demonstrate the economic return.
Viable Clusters
Fastershire has been awarded funding from the European
Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and has identified a number of
significant property clusters that could benefit from this funding.
Contract Extensions
For the remaining properties, Fastershire will be exploring
possible contract extensions with BT and Gigaclear to provide access to faster
broadband.
Stage 5 Fastershire Community Broadband Grant
The new Stage 5 will offer grants on a property basis to individuals and businesses to procure their own Gbps capable broadband solutions from a selected range of suppliers.
Grants will be provided as follows:
Individual grants will be offered to eligible business premises up to £25,000 via the second phase of the Marches and Gloucestershire business Broadband Grant (MGBG)
Fastershire Community Broadband Grant grants for residential and commercial buildings that are not eligible for ERDF funding
To read more about the plans please download the full strategy, please click here.
Fastershire and Gigaclear are hosting a community meeting to explain the rollout of ultrafast fibre broadband in network build area known as, St Briavels.
Fastershire and Gigaclear are hosting a community meeting to explain the rollout of ultrafast fibre broadband in network build areas known as, Drybrook and Ruardean.
Fastershire and Gigaclear are hosting a community meeting to explain the rollout of ultrafast fibre broadband in network build areas known as Upthorpe, Dursley and Coaley, Dursley
Fastershire and Gigaclear are hosting a community meeting to explain the rollout of ultrafast fibre broadband in network build areas known as Stanley Downton Stonehouse and Leonard Stanley Stonehouse
Vicarious Productions, a film and television production facility based in Edvin Loach, is one of 400 premises in hard-to-reach communities who have gone from being among the worst connected areas in the UK to having access to some of the fastest internet in the country.
Hereford is set to become one of the UK's fastest cities under new plans announced. Zzoomm, the 100% Full Fibre broadband network operator, has announced that it plans to serve over 28,000 homes and businesses in Hereford.
Fastershire and Gigaclear are set to begin the rollout of a new ultrafast broadband network in Ledbury. The rollout is part subsidised by Fastershire, however, the majority of the new network in Ledbury is a result of a significant commercial investment by Gigaclear.
Hundreds more homes in Herefordshire will have access to ultrafast fibre broadband by September this year as internet service provider Airband ramps up delivery speeds.
The rollout of ultrafast broadband in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire has passed the 34,000 homes and businesses mark, and plans have been expanded to reach more rural properties.
Hereford-based Yeleni Therapy and Support has benefitted from Fastershire ‘Keep Connected’ grant from Herefordshire Council.
The grant aims to help community groups and not-for-profit organisations adjust to delivering services online during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
Herefordshire based Social enterprise, Mission Me, benefits from Fastershire's ‘Keep Connected’ grant. Mission Me is a social enterprise providing educational tutoring and mentoring to young people who might be struggling with confidence or have experienced a disrupted academic life.
Fastershire's ‘Keep Connected’ grant has helped Herefordshire based communtiy group, Unite The Beat, to launch a new radio station and continue to support people who benefit from their services.
The grant has been created by the Herefordshire Council’s Fastershire Broadband Project, and is available to any not-for-profit groups or organisations, including charities, community groups and Parish/town councils.
As many more of us now need to work or run a business from home at this difficult time, and we’re working to make sure you’ve got the broadband connection you need.
Fastershire and Worcester-based broadband network supplier, Airband, have reached the 1000 premises milestone under their rollout of fibre broadband in Herefordshire.
A series of free IT courses for beginners has been launched at new locations in Gloucestershire, run in partnership with Gloucestershire County Council’s Fastershire project and Adult Education in Gloucestershire.
Over 90% of Herefordshire homes and businesses can access superfast broadband and speeds of 30mpbs or above according to new figures released by ThinkBroadband, the UK’s largest independent broadband information website.
Businesses at the Churcham Business Park can now benefit from faster broadband thanks to a grant from Fastershire. Part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the grant provides up to 100% of the capital installation cost, up to £25,000.
The Fastershire project has been recognised as achieving the best public sector impact at the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) awards, ahead of other shortlisted nominees the Welsh Government and Connecting Cambridgeshire.
Gigaclear has become the first broadband provider to drill under the River Severn to reach two of Gloucestershire’s most remote and poorly connected villages. This significant feat of civil engineering will deliver full Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband access to 861 homes in Longney and Framilode.
The Fastershire broadband project has been shortlisted in the Best Public Sector Impact category at this year’s Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) awards.
Get Online Week, the UK biggest digital inclusion campaign returns to Herefordshire and Gloucestershire this month.
Running from 14th to 20st October Get Online Week aims to help people get started using the internet and computers by offering free training.
Leominster is to benefit from full fibre broadband thanks to a grant from Herefordshire Council’s Fastershire project and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Commercial pilot and farmer Andy Jones in Collington is just one of 164 residents and businesses in and around Tedstone Wafre, Herefordshire now able to enjoy the benefits of superfast fibre broadband after years of low broadband speeds.
Guests at Lucksall Caravan and Camping Park in Herefordshire can now benefit from a new superfast broadband connection and park wide WiFi access thanks to a grant from Fastershire.
Herefordshire has been selected by the Government’s Digital Catapult initiative to devise and pilot a brand new technical solution to improve the lives of elderly people in the county.
Four community cabinets areas went gone live last week, in Gloucestershire, the Aston Magna community cabinet (lot 3d) and Brookthorpe cabinet (3e)are live and providing ultrafast services and in lot 4 Herefordshire, the Acton Green cabinet and Pencombe cabinet are also live.
Update on the stage 3 rollout contracts with Gigaclear to provide properties across rural parts of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire with access to faster broadband.
The project has been has been shortlisted in the Best Public Sector Project category at the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) awards.
Update on the stage 3 rollout contracts with Gigaclear to provide properties across rural parts of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire much needed access to faster broadband.
The UK biggest digital inclusion campaign, Get Online Week, returns to Herefordshire this month. Get Online Week, running from 15th to 21st October, aims to help people get started using the internet and computers.
Some of the hardest to reach homes and businesses in Herefordshire are set to benefit from faster broadband thanks to an innovative new approach.
Herefordshire Council’s broadband initiative, Fastershire has secured funding to provide superfast broadband access for some of the most remote properties in the county.
Some of the hardest to reach homes and businesses in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire are set to benefit from faster broadband as part of the Viable Clusters element of Stage 4 of the Fastershire Broadband Strategy.
The Connected Britain awards have recognised the work undertaken in the Gloucestershire village of Chedworth by Gigaclear, under the Fastershire project, in the Community Improvement award.
Fastershire, has won the top prize at the national Connected Britain awards in London.The Connected Britain Awards aim to recognise the innovation and achievement of those companies who are at the forefront of Britain’s digital transformation.
KemPowell, Acre Accountancy, Munday Taylor Lamont and Like Radio have become the first businesses in Herefordshire to benefit from a grant, funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Fastershire, to enable them to access superfast broadband.
RawPixel has become the first business in Gloucestershire to benefit from a grant, funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Fastershire, to enable them to access superfast broadband.
Gloucestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council have awarded a contract to BT Group to deliver phase two of the Fastershire broadband rollout in parts of Hereford, Cheltenham and Gloucester.
Elmstone Hardwicke, Stoke Orchard, Deerhurst, Portway and Brookthorpe have been announced as the first communities in Gloucestershire that will benefit from the next phase of faster broadband rollout being delivered by Gigaclear through the Fastershire project.
Pupils at Ashperton Primary Academy, near Ledbury, are now taking advantage of faster broadband thanks to Herefordshire Council’s Fastershire Broadband Project.
Three Herefordshire businesses have benefited from improved broadband thanks to the Fastershire broadband project.
Eastnor Castle, the Land Rover Experience Eastnor and D3 Active received a grant to fund the installation of a new broadband connection from Herefordshire Council’s Fastershire project. The grant has been used to purchase three lease line providing access to 100Mbps download and upload speeds.
Over 8,000 homes and businesses will see major investment in a new full fibre network across Herefordshire resulting in some of the fastest broadband speeds in the country.
Gloucestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council have today recommended awarding the contract to Gigaclear to deliver phase two of the Fastershire broadband rollout in parts of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and the Golden Valley in Herefordshire.
Visitors and businesses in Hereford will now be able benefit from free WiFi access across the city centre thanks to Faster City. The new network has been launched by Hereford City Life and is a joint partnership Fastershire broadband project, allowing shoppers and businesses access to the internet at no cost and without restrictions on time.
Residents and businesses in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire are being invited to contribute to a major survey of broadband availability across the two counties.
The Cotswolds is the first area of the Fastershire project in phase 2 rollout and has already reached its halfway mark.
The brand new, future-proof pure fibre network has been installed directly at more than to 3,000 homes and businesses.
Get Online Week, from 17-23 October, aims to help people get started using the internet and computers. Herefordshire Council and the Fastershire broadband project are offering a series of free training and drop-in sessions for local people across the county
Students at The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) have been providing free internet and IT training to people who are unfamiliar with computers thanks to funding from the Fastershire broadband project.
A long standing Fastershire Broadband Champion can now enjoy faster speeds, as the village of Luston, Herefordshire, is now able to connect to fibre broadband.
The Fastershire project has now reached more than 22,000 Herefordshire homes and businesses, many of them in some of the more remote parts of one of the UK’s most rural counties.
The Green Dragon Pub in Cowley has become the best connected pub in the UK, with visitors able to download a full length HD film quicker than the time it takes to pull a pint of Guinness.
The Fastershire team and Openreach apprentice, Joe Richards met up with pupils at Weobley Primary School to give them an insight into communications past, present and future.
Gloucestershire County Council and Gigaclear have announced the first communities to benefit from Fastershire’s phase 2 broadband rollout in the Cotswolds.
Engineers working to deliver faster fibre broadband across Herefordshire have overcome technical challenges to enable around 1,850 homes and businesses in Bromyard to benefit from the ambitious Fastershire programme.
Gloucestershire County Council has agreed the award of a contract to Gigaclear to provide ultra fast broadband to more than 6,000 homes and businesses across the Cotswolds
BT have donated satellite technology to the Fastershire campaign for use in the campaign's CREATE:Lab, a mobile training and demonstration facility able to deliver onsite support to businesses and communities across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.
Fastershire held a 'onesie' summer party in Andoversford to celebrate the new 'all-in-one' cabinet that is the 100th cabinet to go live as part of the Fastershire project
A Lechlade church choir helped to sing in the changes as the town, along with Kempsford, became the first in the Cotswolds to benefit from faster fibre broadband through the county's Fastershire project.
Lechlade, Fairford, and South Cerney are set to join Gloucestershire's better and faster broadband network as the rollout of fibre broadband across the county continues apace.
Work has started in the first Gloucestershire communities to benefit from the ambitious, multi-million pound project to roll-out faster broadband throughout the county, BT and Gloucestershire County Council announced today.
Work has started in the first Herefordshire communities to benefit from the ambitious, multi-million pound project to roll-out faster broadband available throughout the county, BT and Herefordshire Council announced today.
A £56.6m project to give Herefordshire and Gloucestershire world-class broadband communications within four years was announced today. It is the first broadband initiative of its type to be launched in England in which two local authorities will be working together in partnership.
Stage 5 of the Fastershire Broadband Strategy will focus on the final 2-4% of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire that remain outside of any formal plan to be upgraded to superfast broadband.
In anticipation of the launch of the Fastershire Community
Grant Dynamic Purchasing System, which will be the main mechanism used to
deliver Stage 5, Fastershire have published a State Aid Public Consultation. This will determine which premises will be considered to be
eligible for Stage 5 and it is important that any broadband infrastructure
provider that has plans or an existing footprint in either county, verifies
that the premises highlighted have not or will not achieve NGA capability
through commercial means.
We have evaluated the information provided and can confirm that of the 29,430 Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) that formed the basis of the consultation, 19,451 have been claimed as either covered or planned by one or more commercial providers and therefore will not be the target of our future investment.
A final total of 9,979 UPRNs will be eligible for our Stage 5 Fastershire Community Grant.
Primary
School Filmmaking Competition 2018
We're inviting Primary Schools across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to take part in our filmmaking challenge to create a short film about internet.
Schools are required to produce a 30-60 second film to showcase positive use of the
internet and can be an advert, comedy, documentary, ‘how to guide’ or news
report.
The competition is designed to help demonstrates the benefits of the
internet but also to provide an opportunities for children to use the internet
as a learning tool, to search and accesses online resources to help them plan
and produce their film.
The films will be uploaded to the Fastershire website and the film with the most
views wins £200 for their school.
The 2017 Winner - Walford Primary School, Herefordshire
To
help you get started we've compiled some useful resources and 'how to' videos.
Into
Film
Into Film is an Education
charity that offers support to teachers and educators to achieve a wide
range of effective learning outcomes in their use of film.
Their
website offers free resources about all elements of film making, by age and
topic.
Young
Film Academy helps over 7,500 young people each year complete their first films
across the UK and is an official London delivery partner for the BFI Film
Academy.
As young people now grow up using laptops, tablets and smartphones as if they were second nature, we would like to help them share their skills by teaching a family member how to use the internet.
Fastershire can run competitions with schools across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to encourage students to teach a member of their family the basics of using the internet. At the end of the teaching, the student and the person being taught will be asked to write about the experience and what they've got out of it, and the student will submit this as an entry to the competition.
You can download PDFs of our training guides to use in training sessions or for your own learning...
The Government's Better Broadband Scheme aims to help provide access to a basic broadband service that will offer download speeds of at least 10 Mbps.
The Better Broadband Scheme, developed by the UK government, provides a voucher worth up to £350 for basic broadband installation to homes and businesses that will not benefit from superfast broadband.
The eligibility criteria for the scheme is as follows;
Your current broadband download
capacity is below 2Mbps
There are no alternative
affordable broadband services available to you which would provide a
download speed of at least 2Mbps
There are no plans to provide
superfast broadband to your location (To see if your property is included
in Fastershire’s rollout, please use the website address above)
For more information or to apply, please visit the Government's Better Broadband Scheme website.
Faster broadband is being rolled out across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire between now but it is not possible to flick a switch to make every area go live on the same day and some areas will go live before this. Register your interest today and we'll let you know when you can order.