Presenter: Rezia Khan - rezia.khan@gigaclear.com
Here is a link to the presentation http://www.chearsley.com/Gigaclear/ChearsleyResidentsEvent130223.pdf
Notes below from KWT:
1.
The Gigaclear ultrafast broadband rollout is
a government backed initiative and independent of the Parish Council. Access to
the public highway permissions come directly from Bucks council or, where
private land access is required, directly from the relevant land owner.
2.
Gigaclear will put in access points on the
public highway or nearest telegraph pole (if available) for all properties in
the village to potentially have Ultrafast broadband. Actual connections to
properties will only be made if householders sign up to a contract which is
entirely optional.
3.
For Chearsley, most cabling will use existing
BT ducting and telegraph poles to install access points for houses. There will
be some limited trenching on verges which it was stated will be made good.
There will be some short stretches of road trenching. The work is expected to start
before June and take several months. Connections to homes purchasing the
service will then take place over the next month or so. Note Gigaclear have
consistently missed their communicated dates so far !
4.
The initial low prices are for the first 18
months and not guaranteed thereafter. Please check Gigaclear web sites for
pricing.
5.
Packages range from 200Mbs, 400Mbs, 600Mbs to 900
Mbs upload/download speeds.
6.
The existing BT line to houses will not be
removed.
7.
Gigaclear offer a phone VOIP service for
between £3 and £9 a month. They stated the existing number could be retained.
There is no line rental charge. This will need some form of UPS (power
backup ) in the event of a power cut otherwise there will be no landline
service. Currently a standard BT (non wireless phone) remains working as it is on
a powered line. However note that these are being phased out nationally over
the next several years as the government intends for the UK to go fully
VOIP.
8.
If a householder has a UPS a question was
asked about how resilient Gigagclear infrastructure would be in the case of a
power cut. No specific answer was given other than Gigaclear infrastructure has
some level of battery or for major data centres , generator, backup.
9.
A question was asked about reliability stats
– no specific answer was given.
10.
A question was asked about customer retention
rates – no specific answer was given.
11.
A question was asked about a recent incident
in a nearby business park which was cut off from Gigaclear broadband for 8 days
after a cable was sliced through. Gigaclear stated the issue here was that this
problem required digging up the highway which meant Gigaclear had to apply for
permits and for these to be granted by Bucks council before work could begin
and that caused the delay in this case.
12.
A question was asked about what backup there
is like the BT Halo system. [ Note: the latter requires a mobile phone signal.
Most mobile phones can act as a temporary wireless hotspot to provide
connectivity but only if there is a mobile signal.]
13.
For buildings where there are potential
access problems, Gigaclear stated they would provide a free survey upon householder request.
14. The customer support centre was stated as being UK based and open 8am-8pm weekdays and 10am-5pm weekends and bank holidays.
15.
A new Linksys router provided by Gigaclear
needs to be used. Existing hubs cannot be used.
16.
It was stated that existing mesh extensions might
work else further Linksys routers would be required, either purchased or rented
from gigaclear.
17. All Gigaclear roadworks will be logged with the public https://one.network/ website. This gives advance notice of all utility and council roadworks.
18. If you have further questions please use www.gigaclear.com or email rezia.khan@gigaclear.com directly. Please note the Parish Council is neutral on this topic and is merely trying to help facilitate the flow of information. The PC urges each householder to do their own due diligence as to whether to use this new service. Note there are mixed reviews on such websites as https://www.broadband.co.uk/broadband/providers/gigaclear/reviews/
