Broadband Provision in Wiltshire Oct 2010

Broadband Provision
in Wiltshire

October 2010

Maggie Rae, Director of Public Health and Wellbeing,
County Hall, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8J D

Report Author: Dr Sally Hunter
Corporate Research Team
Wiltshire Council
sally.hunter@wiltshire.gov.uk

Executive summary

Introduction and background
Digital technology is at the heart of todays society, with the significance of internet
access for a wide range of social, economic, educational and civic purposes continuously
increasing. All telephone exchanges in Wiltshire are enabled to provide a broadband
internet service, but the broadband speeds attainable vary widely throughout the county.
Contrasts in the quality and speed of broadband provision are a national issue and two
central government programmes the Universal Service Commitment (USC) and Final
Third have been established to ensure, respectively, provision of speeds of at least
2mbps
1
in the shorter term and access to next generation, super-fast broadband
services in areas the market would not reach (the final third of the country) in the longer
term. Broadband Delivery UK has been established within the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills as the delivery vehicle for these programmes. This research project
has been carried out to provide an evidence base describing broadband provision in
Wiltshire, with particular reference to the USC and Final Third programmes.

Exchanges providing broadband services in Wiltshire
There are 106 exchanges providing broadband services in Wiltshire, 85 located within
the county and 21 located outside and providing services to areas around the county
boundary. The numbers of premises served by each exchange and the services offered
vary widely, with exchanges in urban areas serving greater numbers of premises and
generally offering more services. Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) services, enabling higher
levels of local competition, are available through 18 exchanges in Wiltshire, covering
around 60% of residential premises. BTs high speed broadband product (Wholesale
Broadband Connect), offering download speeds of up to 24mbps and upload speeds of
up to 2.5mbps, is currently available through four exchanges in Trowbridge, Salisbury,
Chippenham and Devizes. Next generation broadband services, enabling super-fast
broadband services by replacing copper telephone lines with fibre-optic cable, are
currently available to only around 34% of households in Wiltshire through Virgin Medias
cable service. They will also be available through BTs Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) roll-
out in Trowbridge and Chippenham by end 2010 and Calne by end 2011. Symmetrical
Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) business broadband services, enabling uploading much
faster than standard connections, are available through nine exchanges in Wiltshire,
typically those serving the largest number of premises, and Ethernet business services
are available through the four exchanges in Trowbridge, Salisbury, Chippenham and
Devizes.

Variability in broadband download speeds
The potential broadband download speeds achievable through the BT network in
Wiltshire have been mapped to produce an overall picture of standard (i.e. not next
generation) broadband provision in the county
2
. The highest speeds available are
centred on the exchanges in the towns and some villages with large, predominantly rural

1
Megabits per second.
2
Based on data collected from the BT online postcode checker between Sept and Nov 2009.

areas in between experiencing significantly lower speeds. The variation in speeds
summarised as follows:
can be

Maximum speeds of 8 to 9mbps (at the time of data collection) available only in
the centres of Trowbridge, Salisbury, Chippenham and Devizes in an area
comprising around 0.2% of the geographic area of the county and containing 6%
of households and 18% of businesses.
The highest proportion of households (62%) and businesses (52%) are located
within approximately 14% of the county that has been mapped as having potential
download speeds of between 5mbps and 8mbps.
The largest geographic area of the county (46%), containing around 26% of
households and 23% of businesses, is mapped as having potential download
speeds of 2 to 5mbps.
Around 40% of the county, an area containing 5% of households and 7% of
businesses, has potential broadband speeds of below 2mbps, the USC minimum
level.

Mosaic lifestyle classification data for households in the zones outlined above reveals
that the zone with the lowest speeds has the highest proportion of households in rural
isolation, and also the highest proportion in the wealthier lifestyle groups. The zone with
the fastest speeds has the highest proportion of young city dwellers and also the highest
proportion in the lower income groups. These data furthermore suggest that while the
majority of rural communities are reasonably served when it comes to broadband, with
exchanges located in a number of villages, around 20% of households in rural isolation
are expected to have broadband speeds of below 2mbps compared to around 5% for the
county as a whole.

A number of locations within the area identified as having speeds below 2mbps are
further described as being very unlikely to receive a fixed 256kbps
3
or 512kbps service
due to the long length of the line; around 1% of households in the county fall into this
category.

Profiles of areas below the USC level
As an aid to prioritisation, the zone identified as having download speeds of below 2mbps
has been sub-divided into 68 profile areas. The number of households within these
profile areas ranges from fewer than 10 to over 1,000 and the number of businesses from
fewer than five to around 100. Mean potential download speeds within these areas range
from 0.4mbps to 1.8mbps, with the most commonly reported speeds varying from 0.25 to
1.5mbps. The number of postcodes within each area described as being very unlikely to
receive a fixed 256kbps or 512kbps service due to the long length of the line ranges
from zero to 45. Some 70% of postcodes falling into this category are located within only
12 of the 68 profile areas and 85% are within 19 areas.

Broadband characteristics of Wiltshires market towns
The highest standard potential download speeds of 9mbps are available in the major
urban centres of Salisbury, Trowbridge, Chippenham and Devizes. The most commonly

3
Kilobits per second.

quoted download speed for postcodes in Salisbury, Trowbridge and Devizes was 9mbps,
but only 6mbps for Chippenham. For the other market towns, the most commonly quoted
and maximum download speed was 6.5mbps. Mean quoted potential download speeds
range from 5.3mbps in Malmesbury to 6.6mbps in Devizes. Next generation services are
currently available in nine of the 21 market towns, and will also be available in
Chippenham by the end of 2010 and Calne by end 2011.

Survey of measured broadband speeds
The broadband speeds described in this report are estimated potential maximum
download speeds for a given postcode on the BT online postcode checker. The
difference between these speeds and the actual speeds experienced by a particular
household has been examined in an online survey which asked Wiltshire residents to test
their speeds and report the results. The average tested standard broadband download
speed reported in this survey was 2.8mbps, with the most commonly reported speeds
being around 0.5mbps and 1mbps. This average speed is low compared to national
figures obtained by Ofcom, showing an average tested download speed of 4.1mbps.

Around 30% of survey respondents used BT as their Internet Service Provider (ISP), a
much higher figure than for any other ISP. The average download speed for all standard
broadband ISPs was around 2mbps to 3mbps, while the average download speed
reported by users of Virgin Medias next generation cable service was 9mbps.

Around 90% of survey respondents reported using the internet for personal browsing and
around 60% of Wiltshire Council employees and 45% of other Wiltshire residents
reported using the internet to work from home. Around 10% of respondents also reported
using the internet to run a business from home.

A comparison of the standard broadband download speeds reported in the survey with
quoted BT data for the postcode shows that the reported measured speeds are an
average of 1.4mbps below the BT postcode estimates, although with a high degree of
variability. Comparison of speeds within the four mapped speed zones showed an
average tested speed of around 1mbps within the zone mapped as having speeds of
below 2mbps. The average tested speed reported within the zone mapped as having
speeds of between 2mbps and 5mbps was around 2mbps, with around 60% of survey
responses from within this zone reporting speeds below this level. Within the two zones
mapped as having the highest potential download speeds (5 to 8mbps and greater than
8mbps), the average reported tested speed was around 4mbps.

3G coverage in Wiltshire
A series of 3G coverage maps by mobile operator was produced by Ofcom in 2009,
based on theoretical predictions and giving an indication of areas where it is possible to
make and receive calls over a 3G network, rather than access higher data rate services.
These maps indicate that the north and west of Wiltshire and the area around Salisbury
are well served by multiple 3G networks, but that a band exists, running approximately
north-east to south-west through the county, where coverage is absent or provided by a
limited number of suppliers.

Summary of current situation with respect to USC and Final Third
benchmarks
At the present time around 40% of the geographic area of the county appears to have
potential broadband download speeds of below 2mbps the USC minimum level. This
area contains around 5% of households and around 7% of businesses. Within this area
there are a number of postcodes that are described as being very unlikely to receive a
fixed 256 or 512kbps service due to the long length of the line, with around 1% of
households in the county falling into this category of particularly poor service. Around
46% of the geographic area of the county, an area containing around 26% of households
and 23% of businesses, has been identified as having potential download speeds of
between 2mbps and 5mbps. However, a survey of actual measured download speeds
suggests that average speeds experienced by households within this area are around
2mbps and that around 60% of households in this area may have speeds of below this
level. This area could therefore be considered as borderline for meeting the USC level.
Around 1% of the geographic area of the county, an area containing around 34% of
households, is currently served by Virgin Medias cable next generation service and so
these areas will definitely not form part of the final third - the approximately one third of
the country where it is not expected that commercial provision of a next generation
broadband solution will occur.

Planned developments in broadband provision
The only known planned development in broadband provision at the time of the
preparation of this report is the roll-out of BTs FTTC service to Chippenham and
Trowbridge by end 2010 and to Calne by end 2011. Under this development scenario, by
end 2011 the difference in speeds between the more and less advantaged areas will take
on a four-tier structure:
Highest headline speeds available to those 34% of households with Virgin Medias
cable service (<50mbps)
Somewhat lower headline speeds available in the three exchange areas with BTs
FTTC (<40mbps)
Moderate headline speeds available in two exchanges enabled with BTs WBC but
not FTTC (<24mbps)
Much lower headline speeds of up to around 8mbps available in all other areas.

Relative business case for next generation deployment
Next generation broadband services are currently in place or planned in most exchange
areas with a household density of 150 households per km
2
or greater, and so these areas
are assumed to have a strong business case for commercial deployment. Devizes,
Bradford on Avon and Corsham are the only exchange areas in the county that fall into
this category but are not currently provided with a next generation service. A moderate
business case is assumed where the household density is around 60 to 150 households
per km
2
and a weak business case where densities are around 60 households per km
2
and below, with the majority of exchanges in the county falling into this weak category. In
both these categories existing data show that market provision of a next generation
solution may occur, generally in areas adjacent to locations with higher household
densities where there is a stronger business case.

Potential solutions available
There are a number of potential solutions that may be employed to address both those
areas falling below the USC minimum level and those areas where a commercial roll-out
of a next generation service is unlikely. With regard to the USC, a number of projects
throughout the UK are providing wireless broadband to rural areas and it is technically
possible to provide such a service to almost any area, with speeds in excess of 2mbps. A
number of Wiltshires schools have broadband connections through the South West Grid
for Learning and there is a possibility that local communities with speeds below the USC
minimum level could piggy back on these connections in some way, potentially via
wireless connections using the schools as a hub. Commercial satellite broadband
services are currently available that are capable of providing a broadband service with
speeds exceeding 2mbps to most areas of the UK, although the take-up of this service is
limited by the high costs of hardware and installation.

There is considerable interest at a national level in the utilisation of existing infrastructure
to aid in the deployment of fibre optic next generation networks, particularly to rural areas
that are hard to reach by standard means. In this regard, the sewerage and electricity
networks are of interest in Wiltshire.

Coverage of the sewerage network in the county is not comprehensive, with larger
settlements connected, but large parts of rural Wiltshire not so, and so while there may
be some potential that this infrastructure could be used to roll-out fibre optic broadband to
some larger settlements with weaker business cases for commercial roll-out, this
potential solution would not address issues in many rural areas. The electricity overhead
distribution network has significant potential to be used to deploy next generation
broadband solutions. Wiltshire is served by two distribution network operators, one of
which, Western Power Distribution, has a sister telecommunications business that is
currently involved in a trial with Virgin Media to use existing electricity poles to extend the
reach of Virgins broadband and other services into rural areas.

A potential full roll-out of BTs FTTC product to all exchanges in Wiltshire could provide a
next generation solution to most settlements, although due to the nature of the
technology those households with long telephone lines from the cabinets, presumably
mainly in the rural areas with current poor broadband services, would not benefit from
such a roll-out.

A detailed assessment of the feasibility of solutions is outside the scope of this project.
However, the information contained within this report provides a general understanding of
the issues any chosen solutions will need to address with regard to ensuring premises
have broadband access above the USC level and providing next generation access to
less commercially attractive areas. It also demonstrates the potential of some possible
solutions to address these issues. Given the nature of the issues identified and
intelligence gathered in conjunction with this study from government and industry, it
would seem that a mixed economy of solutions is most likely to be required, with this
mix encompassing both the technologies used and the nature of investments, ownership
and ongoing maintenance of any new networks.

Contents

1. Introduction ..........................................................................................................1
1.1. National and regional bodies working to deliver improved broadband.........2
1.2. Wiltshire research project aims ....................................................................3
2. BT exchanges providing broadband services in Wiltshire...............................4
2.1. Numbers of exchanges and premises served..............................................4
2.2. Exchanges enabling local competition through LLU services.....................14
2.3. Availability of high speed broadband services..........................................18
2.4. Availability of next generation broadband services...................................23
2.5. Business services.......................................................................................29
2.5.2. Ethernet...................................................................................................31
2.6. Ofcom market classification........................................................................33
3. Broadband speeds .............................................................................................36
3.1. Potential speeds achievable though the BT network..................................36
3.2. Characteristics of households and businesses in the different standard
broadband speed zones....................................................................................38
3.3. Areas with poor or no broadband service...................................................42
4. Profiles of areas with a poor broadband service and of Wiltshires market
towns .......................................................................................................................44
4.1. Areas with speeds below the Universal Service Commitment level ...........44
4.2. Market towns..............................................................................................55
5. Survey of measured broadband speeds in Wiltshire ......................................58
5.1. Average download speeds.........................................................................58
5.2 Variations in download speed by day and time...........................................59
5.3. ISP usage and average download speeds.................................................59
5.4. Internet use among survey respondents ....................................................61
5.5. Comparison of survey download speeds to BT potential speeds...............62
5.6 Upload speeds ............................................................................................65
6. 3G coverage in Wiltshire....................................................................................66
7. Summary of current situation and overview of potential solutions...............68
7.1. Summary of the current situation in relation to USC and Final Third
benchmarks.......................................................................................................68
7.2. Planned developments in broadband provision..........................................70
7.3. Relative business case for next generation deployment ............................72
7.4. Potential solutions available.......................................................................74

1. Introduction

Whether in terms of everyday living or business and commerce, digital technology is
firmly placed at the heart of todays society. The previous governments Digital Britain
4

report makes the point that first generation broadband provided a boost to Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) of some 0.5%-1.0% a year. It follows from this that, at the local
level, a high quality digital infrastructure is likely to be an important driver and facilitator
of economic development. There is also an ever increasing reliance on digital
technology to facilitate the access to and delivery of council services. The wider digital
inclusion agenda is of growing significance, with digital access increasingly vital for a
range of social and educational, as well as commercial and civic, purposes
5
.

For several years, all of the BT exchanges in Wiltshire have been DSL-enabled
6
,
providing a broadband service, and a number of settlements have also been served by
Virgins fibre-optic cable network. Nonetheless, both potential and actual broadband
speeds vary greatly across the county, with speeds in the more advantaged areas being
many times those in other areas, to the detriment of some local communities and
businesses. For example, the 2008 Rural Facilities Survey
7
found that around 14% of
settlements in rural Wiltshire did not have access to a broadband service with a speed
of at least 2mbps
8
.

Such contrasts in the quality and speed of broadband services are not, of course,
confined to Wiltshire, and are of growing concern to central government. The Digital
Britain report details two national programmes aimed at upgrading the quality of
broadband provision, over, respectively, the next few years and the longer term. In the
first instance, the USC aims to ensure the provision of potential broadband speeds of
2mbps across the whole of the UK. The original target date for this commitment was
2012, but this has since been postponed by the coalition government to within the
lifetime of the current parliament, which could mean 2015
9
. Secondly, the Final Third
project is a longer term programme to improve access to next generation broadband
speeds in those areas where commercial provision is unlikely to be considered viable.
This will essentially involve establishing a new network infrastructure.

4
http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/6216.aspx
5
Wiltshire Council Digital Inclusion paper for Corporate Leadership Team (CLT), Ian Baker.
6
Digital Subscriber Line: a family of technologies capable of transforming ordinary phone lines into high-speed
digital lines.
7
http://www.intelligencenetwork.org.uk/community/rural-communities-and-services/
8
Megabits per second.
9
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/news/broadband-target-postponed-in-the-uk-10780.html
1
1.1. National and regional bodies working to deliver improved broadband
Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK)
10
has been created within the Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills as the delivery vehicle for the USC and Final Third
policies. Its four main goals are as follows:

1. Effectively use the funds provided
11
to meet the USC;
2. Increase the penetration of high speed connectivity and plan for the use of public
money, from whatever source, if necessary;
3. Explore the potential for re-use of public networks and assets to reduce the cost
of making high speed connectivity available to poorly served areas in the UK,
and;
4. Work with and influence the other areas of the public sector (e.g. Ofcom)
involved with and responsible for the delivery of the coalition governments policy
objective to ensure the rapid roll-out of high speed connectivity services across
the country.

To achieve these goals, BDUK is engaging with stakeholders, including industry, public
sector bodies, Ofcom, regional bodies and community groups to:

Develop the commercial models that will be used for implementing the USC
Agree the minimum service specification required to achieve the policy objectives
of the USC
Plan the deployment of the superfast broadband market testing projects
12
to
ensure that the maximum information is gained for targeting potential future
government intervention, and
Investigate the detail of reuse of public sector networks and assets, identify
challenges and develop solutions.

The South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) is working at a regional level
through the Connecting South West partnership, with partners including the SWRDA,
local authorities, Business Link, the private sector and business intermediaries
13
. CSW
has no direct funding, but aims to bring partners together to achieve the following:

Identification of issues and opportunities
J oint solutions
Best practice dissemination
Championing the South West agenda with government departments, service
providers and key stakeholders.

10
http://www.bis.gov.uk/BDUK
11
Around 250 million remaining from the Digital Switchover fund.
12
BDUK will be delivering 3 market testing projects in rural areas. Information from these will be used to better
target possible government intervention and investment in superfast broadband in future. The aims of these projects
are to collect practical data to investigate the actual cost of deployment of superfast broadband in rural and hard-to-
serve parts of the country; the impact of utility infrastructure sharing on changing the economics of private sector
investment; practical commercial and technical issues from re-using existing public sector networks and; the relative
impact of demand registration, aggregation and other parallel stimulation activities.
13
http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/working_with_you/working_with_partners/broadband.aspx
2
The SWRDA is working with BDUK on the selection of suitable areas and projects for
the superfast broadband market testing projects.

1.2. Wiltshire research project aims
This research project has been formulated to put in place an evidence base describing
broadband provision in Wiltshire, with the specific aims to:

provide a comprehensive picture of broadband speeds throughout the county,
mapping existing infrastructure that currently delivers broadband, or that could
potentially be upgraded or harnessed to improve broadband delivery, and;
provide a database of sufficient quality to permit Wiltshire Council to effectively
deliver its own programmes, and for the council and local partners to lobby
government, Broadband Delivery UK, the SWRDA, the infrastructure providers
and others, with a view to continually improving broadband provision throughout
the county.

3
2. BT Exchanges providing broadband services in Wiltshire

This section of the report outlines the locations of the exchanges providing broadband
services in the county and examines the range of services offered. All data in this
section were obtained from the website Sam Knows
14
in J uly 2010, unless otherwise
stated.

2.1. Numbers of exchanges and premises served
There are 106 exchanges providing broadband services in Wiltshire (Figure 1 and Table
1), of which 85 are located within the county and the remaining 21 are located outside
and provide services to areas around the county boundary. Those exchanges that are
located outside the county but provide services in Wiltshire are located in seven other
local authority areas: Swindon (4 exchanges), West Berkshire (2 exchanges),
Hampshire (5 exchanges), Dorset (3 exchanges), Bath and North East Somerset (1
exchange), Gloucestershire (3 exchanges) and South Gloucestershire (3 exchanges).
The geographic areas served by each exchange have been mapped on the basis of
postcode level data of exchange connection, obtained from the Sam Knows website in
November 2009. A number of areas have not been mapped as being served by any
exchange (the white areas on Figure 1) as there were no postcodes within these areas
from which to obtain information, and these areas are assumed to be generally
unpopulated.

The numbers of premises served by each exchange and the services offered vary
widely, with exchanges in urban areas serving a much greater number of premises and
generally offering more services. As shown in Figure 2, the exchanges in the major
urban areas of Salisbury, Trowbridge and Chippenham serve the by far the largest
number of residential premises, followed by the larger towns of Melksham, Devizes,
Warminster, Calne, Westbury, Bradford-on-Avon and Wootton Bassett
15
. The numbers
of non-residential (business) premises served shows a similar pattern, with the
exchange in Salisbury serving the highest number, at around 1,400, followed by
Chippenham, Trowbridge, Melksham and Devizes (Figure 3). The number of premises
paying business rates in Wiltshire has also been calculated for each exchange area and
is shown in Table 1
16
.

14
www.samknows.com
15
The Toothill exchange, located in western Swindon also serves a large number of residential premises,
of which only a small number are located in Wiltshire.
16
Note this figure excludes Communications and Traffic Monitoring Stations, Advertising Rights, Car Parks and
Public Conveniences.
4

Figure 1. BT exchanges providing broadband services in Wiltshire and the approximate
geographic areas served by each exchange.
5
Map
Label Exchange Name
Residential
Premises
Non-
residential
Premises
Business
Rates
Premises
in
Wiltshire*
LLU
Available.
Number of
LLU
Operators
Cable
Available.
21CN WBC
status
FTTC
status
Ofcom
class.
SDSL
Available.
Ethernet
Available.
1 Salisbury 20,331 1,454 1,778 Yes 5 Yes
Enabled as of
31/03/2010
Not
Available Market 3 Yes Yes
2 Trowbridge 17,334 629 1,083 Yes 7 Yes
Enabled as of
15/02/2009
Scheduled
for 2010 Market 3 Yes Yes
3 Chippenham 14,767 831 986 Yes 8 No
Enabled as of
21/03/2009
Scheduled
for 2010 Market 3 Yes Yes
4 Melksham 9,467 588 599 Yes 6 Yes Not Available
Not
Available Market 3 Yes No
5 Toothill (Swindon) 9,287 256 8 Yes 3 Yes
Scheduled for
2011
Scheduled
for 2010 Market 3 Yes No
6 Devizes 8,984 571 719 Yes 6 No
Enabled as of
31/03/2010
Not
Available Market 3 Yes Yes
7 Warminster 8,169 410 512 Yes 4 Yes Not Available
Not
8 Calne 8,166 346 395 Yes 8 No Not Available
Scheduled
for 2011 Market 3 Yes No
9 Westbury Wilts 7,013 425 567 Yes 4 Yes Not Available
Not
Available Market 2 No No
10 Bradford-on-Avon 5,397 278 334 Yes 1 No Not Available
Not
11 Wootton Bassett 5,133 406 408 Yes 3 Yes Not Available
Not
12
Shaftesbury
(Dorset) 4,317 364 37 Yes 1 No Not Available
Not
13 Corsham 4,021 253 277 Yes 1 No Not Available
Not
14 Amesbury 3,836 206 284 Yes 1 Yes Not Available
Not
15 Marlborough 3,746 353 422 No - No Not Available
Not
16 Malmesbury 3,499 303 319 No - No Not Available
Not
6
17
Wroughton
(Swindon) 3,247 137 0 No - Yes Not Available
Not
18 Tidworth 3,241 103 100 No - Yes Not Available
Not
19
Hungerford (West
Berkshire) 3,073 286 23 No - No Not Available
Not
20 Downton 3,001 150 139 Yes 1 No Not Available
Not
21 Durrington Walls 2,632 100 82 No - Yes Not Available
Not
22 Wilton 2,463 133 199 No - Yes Not Available
Not
23
Batheaston (Bath
& NE Somerset) 2,326 110 11 Yes 1 No Not Available
Not
24 Cricklade 2,256 130 125 Yes 1 No Not Available
Not
25 Purton 2,229 136 63 No - No Not Available
Not
26 Pewsey 2,173 157 201 No - No Not Available
Not
27 South Cerney 2,098 138 49 No - No Not Available
Not
28 Box 2,078 100 85 Yes 1 No Not Available
Not
29 Bradenstoke 1,963 62 69 No - No Not Available
Not
30 Lavington 1,890 99 109 No - No Not Available
Not
31 Ludgershall 1,857 73 70 No - Yes Not Available
Not
32 Hawthorn 1,762 115 154 No - No Not Available
Not
33 Idmiston 1,631 62 44 No - Yes Not Available
Not
34 Bulford Camp 1,543 61 33 No - Yes Not Available
Not
35
West Wellow
(Hampshire) 1,466 162 35 No - No Not Available
Not
7
36 Tisbury 1,393 100 99 No - No Not Available
Not
37 Limpley Stoke 1,363 59 20 No - No Not Available
Not
38 Mere 1,329 82 105 No - No Not Available
Not
39
Lockerley
(Hampshire) 1,242 104 1 No - No Not Available
Not
40 Burbage 1,157 41 62 No - No Not Available
Not
41 North Trowbridge 1,139 52 80 No - No Not Available
Not
42 Shrewton 1,116 66 50 No - No Not Available
Not
43 Netheravon 1,109 31 28 No - No Not Available
Not
44 Alderbury 1,097 38 45 No - No Not Available
Not
45 Keevil 1,063 37 65 No - No Not Available
Not
46 Seagry 1,062 71 81 No - No Not Available
Not
47 Bromham 1,051 70 54 No - No Not Available
Not
48 Winterslow 1,050 52 26 No - No Not Available
Not
49
Chiseldon
(Swindon) 1,048 39 1 No - No Not Available
Not
50 Bourton (Dorset) 1,006 45 18 No - No Not Available
Not
51 Aldbourne 1,000 56 54 No - No Not Available
Not
52
Haydon Wick
(Swindon) Unknown Unknown 0 Yes 2 No Not Available
Not
53 Bratton 987 36 42 No - No Not Available
Not
54 Great Bedwyn 986 59 52 No - No Not Available
Not
8
55 Sherston 901 72 72 No - No Not Available
Not
56 Castle Combe 891 109 56 No - No Not Available
Not
57 Sutton Veny 864 56 89 No - No Not Available
Not
58
Marshfield (South
Gloucestershire) 862 85 5 No - No Not Available
Not
59 Ramsbury 856 50 55 No - No Not Available
Not
60 Handley (Dorset) 818 59 7 No - No Not Available
Not
61 Codford St Mary 814 32 37 No - No Not Available
Not
62 Donhead 798 45 27 No - No Not Available
Not
63 Hullavington 787 30 24 No - No Not Available
Not
64 Seend 785 62 58 No - No Not Available
Not
65
Kemble
(Gloucestershire) 779 45 41 No - No Not Available
Not
66 Chirton 752 34 49 No - No Not Available
Not
67 Crudwell 745 48 74 No - No Not Available
Not
68 Upavon 722 31 25 No - No Not Available
Not
69 Broadchalke 718 41 38 No - No Not Available
Not
70 Whiteparish 653 74 59 No - No Not Available
Not
71 Minety 652 81 31 No - No Not Available
Not
72
Didmarton (South
Not
73 Broad Hinton 637 48 30 No - No Not Available
Not
9
74
Collingbourne
Ducis 637 34 57 No - No Not Available
Not
75 Maiden Bradley 637 26 33 No - No Not Available
Not
76 Earldoms 633 59 28 No - No Not Available
Not
77 Stapleford 633 25 31 No - No Not Available
Not
78 Kington Langley 630 53 33 No - No Not Available
Not
79 Chapmanslade 619 20 30 No - Yes Not Available
Not
80 Teffont 619 69 58 No - No Not Available
Not
81 Cannings 599 49 47 No - No Not Available
Not
82
Kempsford
Not
83 Woodborough 538 26 39 No - No Not Available
Not
84
Inkpen (West
Berkshire) 527 39 6 No - No Not Available
Not
85 Brinkworth 524 75 74 No - No Not Available
Not
86
Badminton (South
Not
87 East Knoyle 474 54 41 No - No Not Available
Not
88 Fovant 467 31 27 No - No Not Available
Not
89 Lacock 446 50 52 No - No Not Available
Not
90
Rockbourne
(Hampshire) 436 30 0 No - No Not Available
Not
91 Lockeridge 407 22 31 No - No Not Available
Not
92 Farley 401 30 15 No - No Not Available
Not
10
11
93 Hindon 395 47 52 No - No Not Available
Not
94 Coombe Bissett 377 29 22 No - No Not Available
Not
95 Avebury 350 26 24 No - No Not Available
Not
96 Middle Woodford 349 28 32 No - No Not Available
Not
97 Hilmarton 336 39 13 No - No Not Available
Not
98 Cholderton 318 21 10 No - No Not Available
Not
99
Ogbourne St
George 302 19 15 No - No Not Available
Not
100
Westonbirt
Not
101 Chute Standen 264 27 9 No - No Not Available
Not
102
Linkenholt
Not
103 Kellaways 255 33 11 No - No Not Available
Not
104 Wylye 226 11 18 No - No Not Available
Not
105
Martin Cross
Not
106 Oxenwood 110 18 6 No - No Not Available
Not
Table 1. BT exchanges providing broadband services in Wiltshire (data from www.samknows.com, combined with business rates
information from Wiltshire Council internal sources).
LLU =Local Loop Unbundling; 21CN WBC =21
st
Century Network Wholesale Broadband Connect (exchanges upgraded to ADSL2+and able to offer
high speed broadband with headline download speeds of <24mbps); FTTC =Fibre to the cabinet (enables the provision of super fast broadband
with headline download speeds of <40mbps); SDSL =Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (service for business allowing equivalent upload and
download speeds).
* Numbers of premises paying business rates in Wiltshire County, excluding Communications and Traffic Monitoring Stations, Advertising Rights, Car
Parks and Public Conveniences.

Figure 2. Estimated numbers of residential premises served by the exchanges providing
broadband services in Wiltshire (data from www.samknows.com).
12

Figure 3. Estimated numbers of non-residential premises served by the exchanges
providing broadband services in Wiltshire (data from www.samknows.com).

13
2.2. Exchanges enabling local competition through LLU services
There are 18 exchanges offering Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) services to areas of
Wiltshire (Figure 4 and Table 1). LLU enables communications providers to offer a
complete range of broadband and voice services without having to route through BTs
main network
17
. This allows higher levels of competition and can reduce costs for
consumers.

Although these services are offered through only 18 of 106 exchanges, they are
available to around 60% of the residential premises served by the 106 exchanges. This
is due to the fact that these, and most other services driven by competition, are
available generally only via those exchanges serving the greatest numbers of premises
(Figure 5).

The numbers of communications providers offering services via LLU varies
considerably, with the greatest number of providers active in Chippenham, Calne,
Trowbridge and Melksham (6 to 8 providers), followed by Salisbury, Warminster and
Westbury (4 to 5 providers - Figure 6 and Table 1).

17
A guide to Local Loop Unbundling. BT Openreach.
14

Figure 4. Exchanges offering LLU services in Wiltshire (data from www.samknows.com).
15
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106
E
s
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s
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b
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e

Figure 5. Provision of LLU services compared to the estimated number of residential
properties served by each exchange (orange bars indicating where LLU services are
available - data from www.samknows.com). Exchange numbers correspond to those in
Figure 1 and Table 1.
16

Figure 6. Numbers of communications providers offering LLU services via enabled
exchanges in Wiltshire (data from www.samknows.com).
17
2.3. Availability of High Speed Broadband Services
Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) is BTs service provided via exchanges upgraded
to ADSL2+
18
. This enables high speed broadband, with headline speeds of up to
24mbps. A version of this product known as Annex M can also provide upload speeds
of up to 2.5mbps. These much faster than average upload speeds are expected to be
particularly relevant for businesses that rely on uploading as much as downloading,
such as media companies, and those who use facilities such as videoconferencing
19
.
WBC is currently only offered through four exchanges in Wiltshire; Trowbridge,
Chippenham, Devizes and Salisbury (Figure 7 and Table 1).

Data collected in 2009 indicated that only two exchanges were enabled for WBC
services at that time Trowbridge and Chippenham (Table 2). The exchanges in
Salisbury, Devizes, Corsham and Bradford on Avon were due to be enabled in March
2010 and a further 27 exchanges in March 2011. However, more recent data collected
in J uly 2010 (contained in Table 1 and Figure 7) indicates that although the Salisbury
and Devizes exchanges were enabled in March 2010, the exchanges in Corsham and
Bradford on Avon were not. This programme therefore appears to have been delayed
and it is currently unclear when these and the other 27 exchanges are due to be
enabled, and if this is still planned to go ahead.

Interestingly, the exchanges that the early data indicated would be enabled for WBC
services in 2010 and 2011 are often exchanges serving a relatively small number of
premises (Figure 8). Figure 9 shows the geographic distribution of these exchanges,
which are mostly in the north and west of the county and the south west corner. A
number of the exchanges in larger towns such as Warminster, Westbury, Amesbury and
Marlborough did not feature in this list and it is currently unknown if and when these
locations may be enabled with WBC services.

18
Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line version 2+. ADSL is the most common way of delivering broadband in the
UK. This version of ADSL offers up to 24mbps download speeds.
19
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/news/faster-upload-service-launched-by-bt-10798.html
18

Figure 7. Exchanges offering WBC services in Wiltshire (data from www.samknows.com).

19
Exchange Name
21CN WBC status: 2009
information
Batheaston RFS date set 31/03/2011
Bourton RFS date set 31/03/2011
Box RFS date set 31/03/2011
Bradford-on-Avon RFS date set 31/03/2010
Bradenstoke RFS date set 31/03/2011
Brinkworth RFS date set 31/03/2011
Calne RFS date set 31/03/2011
Cannings RFS date set 31/03/2011
Chippenham Enabled as of 21/03/2009
Chirton RFS date set 31/03/2011
Corsham RFS date set 31/03/2010
Crudwell RFS date set 31/03/2011
Devizes RFS date set 31/03/2010
Donhead RFS date set 31/03/2011
Earldoms RFS date set 31/03/2011
East Knoyle RFS date set 31/03/2011
Hawthorn RFS date set 31/03/2011
Hilmarton RFS date set 31/03/2011
Hindon RFS date set 31/03/2011
Hullavington RFS date set 31/03/2011
Keevil RFS date set 31/03/2011
Kellaways RFS date set 31/03/2011
Kington Langley RFS date set 31/03/2011
Lacock RFS date set 31/03/2011
Limpley Stoke RFS date set 31/03/2011
Lockeridge RFS date set 31/03/2011
Malmesbury RFS date set 31/03/2011
Marshfield RFS date set 31/03/2011
Melksham RFS date set 31/03/2011
Mere RFS date set 31/03/2011
Ogbourne St George RFS date set 31/03/2011
Salisbury RFS date set 31/03/2010
Seend RFS date set 31/03/2011
Tisbury RFS date set 31/03/2011
Trowbridge Enabled as of 15/02/2009
Woodborough RFS date set 31/03/2011
Wootton Bassett RFS date set 31/03/2011
Table 2. Plans for enabling exchanges with WBC services as at 2009 (RFS date Ready
for Service date (data from Samknows, 2009). Superseded by data in Table 1.
20
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106
E
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400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106
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Figure 8. Availability of WBC services compared to the estimated number of residential
and non-residential premises served by each exchange (data from www.samknows.com).
Green bars indicate exchanges enabled for WBC services in 2009 and 2010, yellow bars
indicate exchanges that 2009 data suggested would be enabled in 2010, but where these
services are not yet available (Bradford on Avon and Corsham) and red bars indicate
exchanges that 2009 data suggested would be enabled for WBC services in 2011.
Exchange numbers correspond to those in Figure 1 and Table 1.

21

Figure 9. Plans for enabling exchanges with WBC services as at 2009 (data from
www.samknows.com). RFS date Ready for Service date.

22
2.4. Availability of next generation broadband services
Next generation broadband services are those enabling super-fast broadband services
by replacing copper telephone lines with fibre-optic cable
20
. These services are
currently available in parts of Wiltshire through Virgin Medias fibre-optic cable services
and will shortly also be offered through BTs Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) roll-out.

2.4.1. Cable broadband services in Wiltshire
Cable services, offering headline broadband download speeds of up to 50mbps, are
available in a number of exchange areas in Wiltshire through Virgin Media (Figure 10
and Table 1). The availability of cable services does not show a clear relationship with
the number of premises served by an exchange (Figure 11). This is to be expected,
given that cable services are provided through different infrastructure, but it does seem
reasonable to assume that this service would be found in areas with the largest
numbers of premises. This is generally the case, although cable services are not
available in a number of the larger towns in the county, including Chippenham, Devizes,
Calne, Bradford-on-Avon, Corsham, Marlborough, Malmesbury and Downton. The
coverage of this network is shown in more detail in Figure 12, based on postcode level
data of service availability obtained from Virgin Medias website
21
in November 2009.
The total geographic area covered by this network amounts to around 1% of the area of
the county, with this area containing around 34% of households.

20
Report for the South West RDA; Next-generation access, Final Report. 24February 2010. Analysys Mason.
21
http://allyours.virginmedia.com/websales/service.do?id=2
23

Figure 10. Cable service availability by exchange area (data from www.samknows.com).

24
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106
E
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Figure 11. Availability of cable broadband services compared to the estimated number of
residential properties served by each exchange (data from www.samknows.com).

25

Figure 12. Availability of Virgin Media cable services, mapped on the basis of postcode
data (obtained from Virgin Medias website, November 2009).
26
2.4.2. Next generation services through FTTC
The exchanges in Chippenham and Trowbridge are scheduled to be enabled with BTs
FTTC super fast broadband services in 2010 followed by the exchange in Calne in
2011 (Figure 13 and Table 1). This will allow for the provision of broadband services
with headline download speeds of up to 40mbps in these areas. Speeds attainable via
this service decrease with line length from the cabinet, with speeds of around 1mbps to
4mbps supported over 4km to 5km. This suggests that next generation speeds will not
be available to all locations within these exchange areas and that long lines will still be
an issue for some locations. Plans to roll-out this upgrade to other areas of the county
are currently unknown, including for the exchange in Salisbury, which serves the
highest numbers of residential properties (Figure 14).

27

Figure 13. Exchanges scheduled for FTTC services in Wiltshire (data from
www.samknows.com).
28
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106
E
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Figure 14. Scheduled availability of FTTC services compared to the estimated number of
residential properties served by each exchange (data from www.samknows.com).
Dark blue bars indicate exchanges due to be enabled in 2010 and light blue bar the
exchange due to be enabled in 2011. Exchange numbers correspond to those in Figure 1
and Table 1.

2.5. Business services
2.5.1. Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Line services
Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) services are business broadband services
that allow uploading at the same speed as downloading (<2mbps), making uploading
much faster than standard connections. These services are available through nine
exchanges in Wiltshire (Figure 15 and Table 1), which are generally those serving the
largest number of residential premises (Figure 16). However, comparing the provision of
this service to the estimated numbers of non-residential (presumably business)
premises
22
, it appears that this service is available in some areas which have relatively
low numbers (about 250) of non-residential premises, e.g. Corsham and Toothill
(Swindon), and not in others with larger estimated numbers of non-residential premises,
e.g. Westbury and Wootton Bassett, which have over 400 estimated non-residential
premises and Marlborough which has around 350.

22
Obtained from Samknows.
29

Figure 15. SDSL service availability by exchange area (data from www.samknows.com).

30
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106
E
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800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106
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Figure 16. Availability of SDSL services compared to the estimated number of residential
and non-residential premises served by each exchange (data from www.samknows.com).

2.5.2. Ethernet
Ethernet services provide high speed connections between business locations, allowing
businesses to extend their private networks between geographically dispersed sites. At
present in Wiltshire, only the exchanges in Salisbury, Trowbridge, Chippenham and
Devizes are enabled to offer this service (Figure 17). This service is not currently
offered through the exchange in Melksham, in spite of this serving a larger number of
non-residential premises than there are in Devizes (Figure 18).
31

Figure 17. Availability of Ethernet services by exchange area (data from
www.samknows.com).

32
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106
E
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1,000
1,200
1,400
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1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106
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Figure 18. Availability of Ethernet services compared to the estimated number of
residential and non-residential premises served by each exchange (data from
www.samknows.com). Exchange numbers correspond to those in Figure 1 and Table 1.

2.6. Ofcom market classification
The majority of the exchanges serving areas of Wiltshire are classified by Ofcom as
Market 1, i.e. with BT as the only Principal Operator
23
(PO) (Figure 19 and Table 1).
A further 19 exchanges are classified as Market 2, with two or three Principal Operators,
and the 8 exchanges serving the largest numbers of premises classified as Market 3,
with four or more Principal Operators
24
(Figure 20).

23
With the Principal Operators identified by Ofcom as those operators considered to play a significant role in the
wholesale broadband access market BT, Cable & Wireless, O2, Orange, Sky, TalkTalk Group and Virgin Media.
24
Including the Toothill exchange in Swindon Borough.
33
Wiltshire has a significantly higher proportion of premises in Market 1 and 2 exchange
areas compared to the national average: around 43% and 25% for Wiltshire,
respectively, compared to around 16% and 14% for the UK as a whole (as at 2008
25
). It
also has a much lower proportion in Market 3 areas: around 32% for Wiltshire compared
to around 70% nationally.

25
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/wba/
34

Figure 19. Ofcom broadband market classification for Wiltshire exchanges.

35
3. Broadband speeds

This section of the report provides an indication of the broadband download speeds
available in Wiltshire. This overview is based on information obtained from the BT
postcode broadband speed checker
26
and Virgin Medias postcode checker
27
during
September to November 2009. Given the fact that this is a fast moving industry, with the
infrastructure constantly being upgraded and developed, the speed maps and data
discussed below should be taken as indicative only as it is likely that speeds will have
changed somewhat since this data was collected. The overall pattern is however,
expected to remain similar.

3.1. Potential speeds achievable though the BT network
The potential broadband download speeds achievable through the BT ADSL network for
all postcodes in Wiltshire have been recorded and mapped to produce an overall picture
of standard broadband provision in the county (i.e. not including next generation cable
services - Figure 20)
28
. As the speeds used in this study were the maximum potential
download speeds modelled as being achievable for a given postcode, the actual speed
experienced at any particular location is likely differ. This difference has been examined
in an online survey of measured broadband speeds, with the results set out in Section 5
of this report.

As would be expected, areas with higher standard broadband speeds are centred on
the exchanges, in the towns and some villages. At the time the data were collected, the
potential maximum download speeds attainable were 8 to 9mbps in the centres of
Salisbury, Trowbridge, Chippenham and Devizes, where the exchanges are enabled
with BTs WBC. As shown in Table 3, these speeds were available in only around 0.2%
of the geographical area of the county, in an area with around 6% of households and
18% of businesses
29
. The highest proportion of households (62%) and businesses
(52%) are located in areas mapped as having potential download speeds of 5 to 8mbps,
with the most commonly reported potential download speeds in these areas being
6.5mbps (Table 3). These areas are located further from the centres of Salisbury,
Chippenham, Trowbridge and Devizes and around the centres of other towns and
villages. The largest geographical area of the county (46%) had quoted potential
download speeds of 2 to 5mbps, with the most commonly reported speed in this area
being 3mbps. This area contains 26% households and 23% businesses. Around 40% of
the geographical area of the county, predominantly rural areas in between the
exchanges, had quoted potential download speeds of 2mbps (the governments USC
minimum level) or below, with the most commonly reported download speed in this area
being 0.5mbps. This area contains around 5% of households and 7% of businesses in
the county.

26
http://www.btbroadbandinformation.com/broadband-speed-checker/ Data obtained between 17
th
September and
25
th
November 2009.
27
http://shop.virginmedia.com/broadband.html
28
Potential speed refers to the top speed achievable at a given location.
29
Businesses as referred to in this section are premises paying business rates in Wiltshire, excluding advertising
rights, car parks, communications masts and public conveniences.
36

Figure 20. Potential standard broadband download speeds attainable through the BT
network (data obtained from BT online postcode checker Sept Nov 2009).

37
Broadband
Speed Zone
Mean Average
Download
Speed
Reported
Mode
Download
Speed
Reported
% of
County
Area
Number of
Households
Number of
Business
Rates
Premises
0-2 mbps 0.9 mbps 0.5 mbps 40% 10,800
(5%)
900
(7%)
2-5 mbps 3.4 mbps 3.0 mbps 46% 52,500
(26%)
3,000
(23%)
5-8 mbps 6.0 mbps 6.5 mbps 14% 125,700
(62%)
6,900
(52%)
8-9 mbps 8.6 mbps 9.0 mbps 0.2% 12,500
(6%)
2,400
(18%)
Table 3. Key statistics for the mapped potential broadband speed zones (number of
households calculated using Experians Mosaic household data).

3.2. Characteristics of households and businesses in the different standard
broadband speed zones
Experians Mosaic lifestyle classification tool has been used to examine the
characteristics of households within the four mapped standard broadband speed zones
outlined above. This tool uses data from a wide range of public and private sources to
classify households by broad groups and more detailed types, painting a picture of the
most likely characteristics of citizens in terms of their socio-demographic lifestyles,
culture and behaviour. The groups as used in this report are summarised in Table 4.

Mosaic Group Classification
A Residents of isolated rural communities
B Residents of small and mid-sized towns with strong local roots
C Wealthy people living in the most sought after neighbourhoods
D Successful professionals living in suburban or semi-rural homes
E Middle income families living in moderate suburban semis
F Couples with young children in comfortable modern housing
G Young, well-educated city dwellers
H Couples and young singles in small modern starter homes
I Lower income workers in urban terraces in often diverse areas
J Owner occupiers in older-style housing in ex-industrial areas
K Residents with sufficient incomes in right-to-buy social housing
L Active elderly people living in pleasant retirement locations
M Elderly people reliant on state support
O Families in low-rise social housing with high levels of benefit need
Table 4. Mosaic Groups.

The proportion of households within each of the mapped broadband speed zones that
are classified as belonging to each Mosaic Group is shown in Figure 21. The blue bars
indicate households located within the area mapped as having potential download
speeds of less than 2mbps. Within this speed zone it can be seen that almost 40% of
households are classified as Mosaic Group A (residents of isolated rural communities).
38
This high proportion should be expected given the generally rural nature of this zone.
This speed zone also contains a high proportion of households classified as Group D
(successful professionals living in suburban or semi-rural locations), followed by
relatively high proportions in Groups B (residents of small and mid-sized towns with
strong local roots) and F (couples with young children in comfortable modern housing).
The same groups are also highly represented within the 2 to 5mbps mapped zone (as
indicated by the green bars on Figure 21), with the largest proportion of households
within this zone being classified as Group D, followed by Groups F, A, B and also H
(couples and young singles in small modern starter homes).

The 5 to 8mbps mapped zone has households with more mixed Mosaic Group
classifications (indicated by the orange bars on Figure 21), with the highest proportions
in Group B then D, followed by Groups F and E (middle income families living in modern
suburban homes). This area also has moderately high proportions of households in
Groups J (owner occupiers in older-style housing in ex-industrial areas), K (residents
with sufficient incomes in right-to-buy social housing), M (elderly people reliant on state
support) and H.

The mapped zone with the highest potential download speeds (greater than 8mbps
indicated by the red bars on Figure 21) contains the highest proportion of households
classified as Group G (young, well-educated city dwellers) and also relatively high
proportions in Groups M, H, L (active elderly people living in pleasant retirement
locations), K, J , B and I (lower income workers in urban terraces in often diverse areas).
39

0 10 20 30 4
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
O
Unclass.
M
o
s
a
i
c

G
r
o
u
p
% of households in mapped broadband speed zone
0
<2 mbps 2 to 5 mbps 5 to 8 mbps >8 mbps

Figure 21. Percentage of households within each mapped broadband speed zone that
belong to each Mosaic Group.

Looking instead at the percentage of households within each Mosaic Group that fall
within each mapped broadband speed zone (Figure 22), it can be seen that for most
groups, the majority of households lie within the 5 to 8mbps zone (which should be
expected given that the majority of all households are within this zone Table 3). The
only group for which the highest proportion of households are located within another
mapped speed zone is Group G (young well-educated city dwellers), for which the
majority of households fall within the greater than 8mbps zone. This again should be
expected given the nature of this group and the fact that these speeds are only found in
the centres of the largest settlements in the county. Interestingly, for Group A (residents
of isolated rural communities), while around 20% of households in this group fall into the
area mapped as having broadband speeds of less than 2mbps (more than twice as high
as for any other group), the majority of Group A households are found within the zones
mapped as having broadband speeds of 2 to 5mbps and 5 to 8mbps. This data would
therefore suggest that the majority of rural communities are reasonably served when it
comes to broadband speed, due to exchanges being located within a number of
villages, but that around 20% of households classified as being in rural isolation are
expected to have speeds of less than 2mbps compared to around 5% of households for
the county as a whole.

40
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 8
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
O
Unclass.
M
o
s
a
i
c

G
r
o
u
p
% of Mosaic Group households within each mapped broadband
speed zone
0

Figure 22. Percentage of households within each Mosaic Group that fall within each
mapped broadband speed zone.

Information on business rates payment by postcode can be used in a similar way to
examine the proportion of businesses within each of the mapped broadband speed
zones classified by business type
30
(Figure 23). The trends observed reflect the
predominantly rural nature of the slower mapped speed zones compared to the more
urban nature of the faster zones. Within the less than 2mbps mapped zone (blue bars
on Figure 23) the majority of businesses are classified as industrial (50%) followed by
leisure/tourism (24%). Around 13% are classified as office based
31
and 7% retail/
services. The proportion of businesses within the 2mbps to 5mbps mapped zone (green
bars on Figure 23) shows a similar overall pattern, although with a greater dominance of
industrial businesses (57%), followed by leisure/tourism (17%), office-based (12%) and
retail/services (9%).

30
For this study, the business descriptions from the business rates data have been used to classify businesses by
type. The Industrial classification includes industrial premises, warehouses and storage sites, minerals, waste and
recycling sites and water treatment sites; the Retail / Services classification includes retail units, petrol stations, auto
sales and repair units and personal financial and commercial services (such as banks and hairdressers); the Leisure /
Tourism classification includes holiday accommodation, food and drink establishments, community centres, clubs
and halls, municipal leisure centres and other sites with a leisure function (such as riding stables); the Public
Administration & Defence classification includes Council functions, cemeteries and crematoria and defence sites;
the Medical / Emergence / Legal classification includes doctors and dentists surgeries, hospitals and care homes,
courts and police, ambulance and fire locations; the Education classification includes public and private education
and training centres. This data set classifies all office-based functions as simply office and so this classification
has been used here, with no break down by industry possible.
31
Not able to break down into industry sector due to the nature of the data set.
41
For the 5mbps to 8mbps mapped zone (orange bars on Figure 23), comprising the
majority of town centres and the peripheries of Salisbury, Trowbridge, Chippenham and
Devizes, most businesses are classified as retail/services (33%) followed closely by
industrial (28%) and then office-based (17%) and leisure/tourism (15%). Within the 5 to
8mbps mapped area (red bars on Figure 23), consisting of the centres of Salisbury,
Trowbridge, Chippenham and Devizes, most businesses are classified as retail/services
followed by office-based, with relatively low proportions in the industrial and
leisure/tourism classifications.

0 10 20 30 40 50
Public Administration & Defence
Unclassified
Medical / Emergency / Legal
Education
Leisure / Tourism
Office
Retail / Services
Industrial
% Business rates units in each mapped broadband zone
60

Figure 23. Percentage of businesses within each mapped broadband speed zone
classified by business type.

3.3. Areas with poor or no broadband service
There are a number of locations within Wiltshire which are very unlikely to receive a
fixed 256kbps
32
or 512kbps service due to the long length of the line
33
and around 1%
of households in the county fall into this category of particularly poor service
34
.
Postcodes falling into this category are shown in Figure 24. These postcodes highlight a
number of villages and groups of villages, as well as more isolated locations where this
particularly poor level of service is available. This distribution of these locations is
examined further in Section 4.

32
Kilobits per second.
33
Based on data obtained from the BT broadband postcode speed checker between 17
th
September and 25
th

November 2009. http://www.btbroadbandinformation.com/bt-postcode-checker
34
Calculated using Experians Mosaic estimates of households for mid year 2007.
42

Figure 24. Areas with poor or no broadband service (data from BT postcode checker,
Sept to Nov 2009).
43
4. Profiles of areas with a poor broadband service and of Wiltshires market
towns

As an aid to prioritisation, this section contains profiles of the areas identified as having
broadband speeds of below 2mbps (the Universal Service Commitment minimum level)
and of Wiltshires market towns.

4.1. Areas with speeds below the Universal Service Commitment level
The zone mapped as having potential broadband download speeds of below 2mbps
consists of a number of different geographic areas, both large and small, spread
throughout the county. This zone follows a complex geographic pattern, being
composed of the interlocking peripheries of exchange areas where line length becomes
an issue for broadband speeds. Some of the larger areas within this zone contain a
number of distinct population clusters, separated by sparsely populated areas. These
areas have therefore been separated into more functional areas based on the proximity
of settlements and topography / line of sight, with relevance for wireless solutions. It is
appreciated that this is only one of several methods that could have been used to define
profile areas
35
.

As shown in Table 5 and Figures 25 and 26, there is significant variation in the number
of households and businesses in the different profile areas identified within the less than
2mbps mapped zone. The areas with the highest numbers of households are typically
found in north and west Wiltshire (Figure 25) and the number of businesses also shows
a broadly similar pattern, with relatively high numbers also in areas to the north of
Salisbury and in the south west of the county (Figure 26).

Mean potential download speeds within the profile areas range between 0.4mbps
(Areas 13 West Dean; 46 Upper Upham; 63 Tatesbury and 66 Clarendon Park)
and 1.8mbps (Area 41 Upper Westford / Iford Table 5 and Figure 27). There are a
number of areas with particularly low speeds to south of Swindon and between
Trowbridge and Devizes. Average speeds within the profile areas are typically higher in
north of county and to the north and west of Salisbury. The most commonly reported
(mode) potential download speeds range between 0.25mbps and 1.5mbps.

The number of postcodes within each profile area that are described as being very
unlikely to receive a fixed 256kbps or 512kbps service due to the long length of the line
ranges from 0 to 45 (Table 5 and Figure 28). This characteristic shows a broad
correlation with the size of the profile area, as would be expected, but an examination of
Table 5 shows that around 70% of the postcodes in this category are contained within
only 12 of the 68 profile areas (those with 10 or more postcodes in this category) and
85% are within 19 areas (those with five or more postcodes in the category).

Building on from the analysis of Mosaic lifestyle classifications of households within the
four main broadband speed zones in Section 3.2, those characteristics particularly
relevant to the digital inclusion agenda can also be examined for the less than 2mbps

35
It was decided not to use BT exchange boundaries to define the profile areas as one exchange area
may contain parts of more than one of the mapped <2mbps areas and even the smaller <2mbps areas
are generally part of more than one exchange area.
44
45

profile areas. As identified in Section 3.2, almost 40% of all households within the less
than 2mbps zone are classified as Mosaic Group A (residents of isolated rural
communities). Within the defined profile areas, this percentage varies from 0% to 100%
(Table 5 and Figure 29), with those areas in the south west and north east of the county
typically showing the highest proportions in this group.

Similarly, the combined total percentage of households within the entire less than
2mbps mapped zone that are classified as belonging to the lower income Mosaic
Groups (Groups I, J , K, M and O
36
) was around 4%. This percentage varies from 0% to
almost 50% in the defined profile areas (Table 5 and Figure 30).

36
Group I Lower income workers in urban terraces in often diverse areas; Group J Owner occupiers in olders-
style housing in ex-industrial areas; Group K residents with sufficient income living in right to buy social housing;
Group M Elderly people reliant on state support; O Families in low-rise social housing with high levels of
benefit need.
Area
number Area name
Area
(km2)
Number of
households
Number of
businesses
Mean
download
speed
(mbps)
Mode
download
speed
(mbps)
Number of
postcodes
very unlikely
to receive a 512
or 256kbps
service
%
households
in rural
isolation
%
households
in lower
income
groups
1 Kilmington / Stourton 13.3 125 to 250 10 to 20 0.8 0.5 11 75 0
2 Longleat / Horningsham 22.1 125 to 250 20 to 50 0.7 0.5 9 52 0
3 Salisbury Plain West 148.2 250 to 400 10 to 20 0.9 0.5 4 32 4
4 Fonthill Abbey 3.6 10 to 20 <5 1.0 0 82 0
5 Wardour Castle 1.2 0 to 10 <5 1.0 0 0 0
6 Ferne 1.3 10 to 20 <5 0.5 0.5 0 82 0
7
Lower Nadder Valley / Southern
Great Ridge 34.1 125 to 250 10 to 20 1.0 0.5 4 26 16
8 Ebble Valley 51.6 250 to 400 10 to 20 0.8 0.5 25 74 1
9 North Salisbury valleys 32.8 250 to 400 50 to 100 1.2 1.5 2 20 11
10 South Salisbury villages 26.5 250 to 400 20 to 50 0.9 0.5 5 41 2
11 New Forest fringe 4.3 10 to 20 <5 0.7 1 2 75 0
12 Langley Wood 2.0 0 to 10 <5 1.2 1 0 89 0
13 West Dean 4.0 20 to 50 <5 0.4 0.5 3 67 0
14 South Chute Forest 0.9 0 to 10 <5 0.8 0 100 0
15 Salisbury Plain East 80.0 250 to 400 5 to 10 1.0 1 2 35 0
16 Chute Causeway 12.7 10 to 20 <5 1.0 1 0 92 0
17 Manningford Bruce 2.5 50 to 125 <5 0.9 0.5 1 77 0
18 Sparcells 0.4 0 to 10 <5 1.0 0 0 0
19 East Purton Stoke 2.1 0 to 10 <5 1.5 1.5 0 100 0
20 Castle Eaton 6.4 10 to 20 <5 1.3 0 36 0
21 Marston Meysey 0.3 10 to 20 <5 1.0 0 44 0
22 North Latton 2.5 10 to 20 <5 1.2 1.5 0 23 0
23
The Somerfords / Dauntesy /
Dauntsey Lock 78.6 700 to 1100 50 to 100 1.1 0.5 20 48 1
24 Oaksey 5.9 50 to 125 10 to 20 1.2 1 0 49 0
25 Cotswold 0.9 0 to 10 20 to 50 1.3 0 100 0
26 Cancourt / Studley 6.1 20 to 50 5 to 10 0.5 0.5 4 37 0
27
Easton Grey / Foxley /
Brokenborough 12.7 50 to 125 20 to 50 1.0 1 0 61 0
46
28 North Luckington 0.7 0 to 10 <5 1.0 0 100 0
29 Stanton St Quintin / Alderton 23.1 250 to 400 10 to 20 1.1 0.5 3 31 0
30 West Draycot Cerne 1.1 0 to 10 <5 1.3 1.5 0 29 0
31 West Sevington 0.6 0 to 10 <5 1.2 1 0 67 0
32 Nettleton / West Kington 8.3 125 to 250 5 to 10 0.7 0.5 9 49 0
33
North Colerne / Thickwood /
Slaughterford 33.3 700 to 1100 50 to 100 0.7 0.5 45 22 5
34 Derry Hill / Stanley 15.2 400 to 700 20 to 50 1.1 0.5 2 13 0
35 West Chittoe 2.5 20 to 50 <5 1.0 0.5 0 92 0
36 Atworth 22.8 700 to 1100 20 to 50 1.0 0.5 12 8 11
37 Whitley East 0.5 0 to 10 <5 1.5 1.5 0 0 0
38 Whaddon 1.7 20 to 50 20 to 50 0.5 0 17 0
39
Compton Bassett / Clyffe
Pypard 38.9 400 to 700 20 to 50 0.8 0.5 13 29 0
40 East Avoncliff 0.5 0 to 10 <5 1.2 1 0 0 0
41 Upper Westwood / Iford 1.5 125 to 250 10 to 20 1.8 1.5 0 6 18
42 Dilton Marsh 11.1 50 to 125 10 to 20 1.0 1.5 6 65 0
43 Ashton 6.7 50 to 125 5 to 10 0.9 0.5 2 26 0
44 Worton / Marston 28.2 400 to 700 20 to 50 0.6 0.5 23 22 0
45 North Poulshot 0.4 0 to 10 <5 0.5 0 67 0
46 Upper Upham 10.1 20 to 50 <5 0.4 1 55 0
47 Chilton Foliat 13.9 50 to 125 <5 1.1 1.5 4 51 0
48 Shalbourne / Stype / Ham 28.0 250 to 400 10 to 20 0.6 0.5 15 49 0
49 Clench Common 39.7 50 to 125 5 to 10 0.8 0.5 8 72 0
50 Upper Nadder Valley 23.8 250 to 400 50 to 100 0.9 0.5 13 95 0
51
Mid Nadder Valley -
Swallowcliffe 9.0 50 to 125 5 to 10 0.9 0.5 0 65 0
52
Great Ride / Southern Wyle
Valley 45.9 125 to 250 5 to 10 0.8 0.5 3 73 0
53 Tollard Royal 29.2 50 to 125 10 to 20 0.8 0.5 9 68 0
54 Salisbury Plain Central 122.8 125 to 250 10 to 20 0.7 0.5 2 33 0
55
Stanton St Bernard / All
Cannings / Etchilhampton 43.1 400 to 700 20 to 50 1.0 0.5 15 37 1
56 North Devizes 2.6 0 to 10 <5 1.0 1 22 0
57 Spirithill / Foxham 8.8 20 to 50 <5 0.9 1 1 42 0
47
48
58 The Deverills 32.2 125 to 250 5 to 10 0.8 0.5 15 78 3
59 North Marlborough area 42.6 50 to 125 5 to 10 0.4 0.5 2 69 0
60 Wilsford 2.9 20 to 50 <5 1.2 1 0 43 0
61 Stitchcombe / Axford 15.5 50 to 125 5 to 10 0.9 1 0 52 1
62 Savernake / Froxfield 25.8 125 to 250 20 to 50 1.2 1 1 44 16
63 Yatesbury 22.8 50 to 125 <5 0.4 0.25 13 52 8
64 Firsdown 6.7 125 to 250 5 to 10 1.1 1 0 18 0
65 South Newton 4.5 125 to 250 10 to 20 1.3 1.5 0 16 49
66 Clarendon Park 5.7 20 to 50 5 to 10 0.4 0.25 3 52 0
67 Lake 2.9 20 to 50 <5 0.7 0.5 0 20 0
68 Sherfield English 3.6 10 to 20 5 to 10 1.0 1 0 35 0

Table 5. Key characteristics of the profile areas comprising the less than 2mbps mapped zone.

Figure 25. Numbers of households within the defined profile areas comprising the less
than 2mbps mapped zone.
49

Figure 26. Numbers of businesses within the defined profile areas comprising the less
than 2mbps mapped zone.

50

Figure 27. Mean potential download speeds within the defined profile areas comprising
the less than 2mbps mapped zone.
51

Figure 28. Numbers of postcodes within the defined profile areas comprising the less
than 2mbps mapped zone that are described as being very unlikely to receive a fixed
256kbps or 512kbps service due to the long length of the line .
52

Figure 29. Percentage of households postcodes within the defined profile areas
comprising the less than 2mbps mapped zone that are classified as Mosaic Group A
Residents of isolated rural communities.

53

Figure 30. Percentage of households postcodes within the defined profile areas
comprising the less than 2mbps mapped zone that are classified as belonging to the
lower income Mosaic Groups (Groups I, J, K, M and O).

54
4.2. Market towns
The approximate boundaries of Wiltshires main market towns are shown on Figure 31,
along with the standard broadband speeds available through BTs ADSL network,
mapped in Section 3 of this report, and the coverage of Virgin Medias next generation
cable broadband services. The key features of these settlements in terms of the
numbers of households and businesses, the average and maximum quoted download
speeds, the availability of next generation broadband services and the percentage of
households within the lower income Mosaic Groups, is shown in Table 6.

The major urban centres of Salisbury, Trowbridge and Chippenham have, of course, the
highest numbers of households and businesses. These settlements, along with
Devizes, are enabled with BTs WBC and so premises were able to receive maximum
standard download speeds of 9mbps at the time these data were collected. The most
commonly quoted (mode) standard download speed for postcodes in Salisbury,
Trowbridge and Devizes was 9mbps, but only 6mbps for Chippenham. Chippenham
also has a relatively low mean standard download speed of 5.5mbps (Table 6). All of
these large settlements show a wide range of quoted download speeds, as indicated by
the large standard deviation shown in Figure 32. The presence of the large, relatively
modern housing estates on the west and south east of Chippenham, which lie within the
2mbps to 5mbps and 5mbps to 8mbps mapped broadband speed zones, would appear
to account for the lower average speeds in Chippenham compared to the other major
settlements. For the other towns considered here, the most commonly quoted and
maximum quoted standard download speed was 6.5mbps. Mean potential download
speeds range from 5.3mbps in Malmesbury to 6.6mbps in Devizes (Figure 32).

Next generation broadband services are currently available in 9 of 21 the towns
considered here, and are due to also be available in Chippenham by the end of 2010,
through BTs FTTC. Also by the end of 2010, Trowbridge will become the only town in
the county to have next generation services provided by two different providers: Virgin
and BT.

The average combined percentage of households within the towns considered that are
classified as belonging to the lower income Mosaic Groups (Groups I, J , K, M and O
37
)
is 29%. The settlements with the highest combined percentage of households in these
groups are Pewsey (41%), Westbury (38%), Melksham (38%), Calne (37%),
Warminster (37%), Mere (37%) and Trowbridge (36%).

37
Group I Lower income workers in urban terraces in often diverse areas; Group J Owner occupiers in olders-
style housing in ex-industrial areas; Group K residents with sufficient income living in right to buy social housing;
Group M Elderly people reliant on state support; O Families in low-rise social housing with high levels of
benefit need.
55

Figure 31. Locations of Wiltshires market towns with respect to standard broadband
download speeds and the locations where next generation broadband services are
currently available (through Virgin Media).
56
Town
Number of
Households
Number
of
Business
Rates
Premises
Mean
Download
Speed
Mode
Download
Speed
Max
Standard
Download
Speed
Next
Generation
Services
Available
%
households
in lower
income
groups
Amesbury 3,600 170 5.8 6.5 6.5 Yes 30
Bradford on
Avon 4,300 250 5.9 6.5 6.5 No 25
Calne 7,300 330 5.9 6.5 6.5 No 37
Chippenham 15,000 890 5.5 6.0 9.0
No
(scheduled
in 2010) 30
Corsham 4,300 230 5.9 6.5 6.5 No 32
Cricklade 1,700 70 6.1 6.5 6.5 No 18
Devizes 7,700 640 6.6 9.0 9.0 No 31
Downton 1,200 30 6.0 6.5 6.5 No 8
Malmesbury 2,300 320 5.3 6.5 6.5 No 22
Marlborough 3,300 350 5.7 6.5 6.5 No 33
Melksham 6,500 380 5.8 6.5 6.5 Yes 38
Mere 1,200 60 6.3 6.5 6.5 No 37
Pewsey 1,400 120 6.2 6.5 6.5 No 41
Salisbury 17,800 1,130 6.2 9.0 9.0 Yes 31
Tidworth 2,500 100 5.6 6.5 6.5 Yes 29
Tisbury 1,000 50 6.4 6.5 6.5 No 25
Trowbridge 15,200 800 6.4 9.0 9.0 Yes 36
Warminster 7,200 420 5.8 6.5 6.5 Yes 37
Westbury 5,800 230 6.0 6.5 6.5 Yes 38
Wilton 1,600 100 6.1 6.5 6.5 Yes 16
Wootton
Bassett 4,800 340 5.5 6.5 6.5 Yes 19
Table 6. Key characteristics of Wiltshires market towns relating to broadband services.

4
4.5
5
5.5
6
6.5
7
7.5
8
D
e
v
i
z
e
s
T
i
s
b
u
r
y
T
r
o
w
b
r
i
d
g
e
M
e
r
e
P
u
r
t
o
n
S
a
l
i
s
b
u
r
y
W
i
l
t
o
n
C
r
i
c
k
la
d
e
D
o
w
n
t
o
n
W
e
s
t
b
u
r
y
C
a
l
n
e
C
o
r
s
h
a
m
B
r
a
d
f
o
r
d

o
n

A
v
o
n
M
e
l
k
s
h
a
m
W
a
r
m
i
n
s
t
e
r
A
m
e
s
b
u
r
y
M
a
r
l
b
o
r
o
u
g
h
T
i
d
w
o
r
t
h
W
o
o
t
t
o
n

B
a
s
s
e
t
t
C
h
i
p
p
e
n
h
a
m
M
a
l
m
e
s
b
u
r
y
M
e
a
n

B
T

p
o
t
e
n
t
i
a
l

s
p
e
e
d

(
0
9
/
2
0
0
9

-

1
1
/
2
0
0
9
)

Figure 32. Mean potential standard (ADSL) broadband download speeds in Wiltshires
market towns (black lines indicate the standard deviation of speeds for each settlement).
57
5. Survey of measured broadband speeds in Wiltshire
Research by Ofcom in 2009 confirmed that the actual broadband speeds experienced
by consumers are typically significantly below the advertised headline speeds
38
. The
speeds discussed and mapped so far in this report have been the estimated potential
maximum download speeds for a given postcode rather than the advertised headline
speed (i.e. the speed the ISP markets as the maximum for a particular product).
However, speeds experienced in any particular household are still expected to vary
from the speed quoted for that postcode area for a number of reasons. In order to
compare potential and actual speeds in Wiltshire, a survey was hosted on the Wiltshire
Council website from February through to early April 2010 asking Wiltshire residents to
run an online broadband speed checker and report the download and upload speeds
recorded. The survey also asked the day and time that the test was carried out and
what the respondent mainly used the internet for. A total of 794 responses were
received, with around 13% from Wiltshire Council employees.

5.1. Average download speeds
The download speeds tested and reported by individual survey respondents using
standard (ADSL) broadband services are shown in Figure 33; this highlights the high
degree of variability in the speeds reported. The average (mean) download speed
reported was 2.8mbps, with a median value of 2mbps. The most commonly reported
speeds were around 0.5mbps and 1mbps, followed by around 2mbps.

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Individual download speed (mbps)
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

t
i
m
e
s

r
e
p
o
r
t
e
d
12

Median
Mean
Figure 33. Frequency of the download speeds reported by individual survey respondents
using standard broadband services (green line), overlain by the 5 point moving average
(heavy black line). The mean and median download speeds are highlighted by the dashed
lines.

The mean average download speed reported in this survey of 2.8mbps is low compared
to figures obtained in national research. In 2009 Ofcom found an average tested
download speed of 4.1mbps nationally, with averages of 4.6mbps for households in

38
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/features/broadbandspeedsjy
58
urban areas and 3.3mbps for those in rural areas
39
. The Wiltshire figures reported here
clearly do not represent a definitive average for the county (given the size of the
sample), and it is possible that people with lower download speeds, who are likely to be
less satisfied with their broadband service, may have been more likely to complete the
survey. The results could therefore be skewed toward lower download speeds.

5.2 Variations in download speed by day and time
There are a number of factors that affect download speeds in individual homes,
including the distance of the property from the local exchange, the quality of local
cabling, the Internet Service Provider (ISP), the time of the day and internal household
wiring. However, some general trends do emerge from the survey results. The data
shows no clear variation in download speed by day of the week, but the time of the day
does appear to have some impact, with average tested download speeds highest
between 8am and 1pm (Figure 34).

0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
M
o
n
T
u
e
W
e
d
T
h
u
r
F
r
i
S
a
t
S
u
n
C
o
m
b
i
n
e
d
D
o
w
n
l
o
a
d

s
p
e
e
d

(
m
b
p
s
)
8am - 1pm
1pm - 6pm
6pm - 8am

Figure 34. Variation in average tested download speed by day and time for survey
respondents using standard (ADSL) broadband services.

5.3. ISP usage and average download speeds
The highest proportion of survey respondents used BT as their ISP (30% of
respondents) and then there was a fairly even split between a number of other major
providers (Figure 35). Around 6% of survey respondents used the Virgin Media next
generation cable service.

39
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/features/broadbandspeedsjy
59
30%
10%
7%
7%
6%
6%
6%
5%
5%
2%
1%
13%
2%
BT
Talk Talk
Tiscali
Sky
Plusnet
Orange
Virgin Media Cable
AOL Broadband
Virgin Media ADSL
O2
Be Broadband
Other
Don't know

Figure 35. Market share of ISPs for the survey respondents.

Virgin Media cable shows by far the highest average tested download speed at around
9mbps (Figure 36). The average speeds recorded for the standard broadband (ADSL)
providers are all quite similar, ranging from just over 2mbps to just over 3mbps. The
high degree of variability in the data means that these averages should not be
interpreted to indicate that one ADSL ISP offers better speeds than others (as indicated
by the lines on Figure 36, showing the standard deviation of the download speeds for
each ISP).
60
0 2 4 6 8 10
Tiscali
AOL Broadband
Sky
BT
Talk Talk
Virgin Media ADSL
O2
Orange
Be Broadband
Plusnet
Virgin Media Cable
mbps
12

Figure 36. Average download speeds recorded for each ISP (with the standard deviation
indicated by the black lines).

5.4. Internet use among survey respondents
Around 90% of all survey respondents reported using the internet for personal browsing
(Figure 37). It is perhaps surprising that this figure is not closer to 100% and almost
20% of those who said that they used the internet to work and/or run a business from
home, did not indicate that they also used the internet for personal browsing.

Around 60% of Wiltshire Council employees and 45% of other Wiltshire residents who
completed the survey reported using the internet to work from home. J ust under 10% of
Wiltshire Council employees and just over 10% of other Wiltshire residents also said
that they use the internet to run a business from home.

61
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Personal
browsing
Online gaming Working from
home
Running a
business from
home
%

o
f

u
s
e
r
s
Wiltshire Council
employees
Other Wiltshire
residents

Figure 37. Purpose of internet usage amongst survey respondents.

5.5. Comparison of survey download speeds to BT potential speeds
The tested download speeds reported by 715 survey respondents could be matched to
a postcode for which data was acquired from BTs online speed checker. These tested
speeds were an average of 1.4mbps below the potential speeds quoted by BT, but with
a very high degree of variability due to the range of factors involved, and presumably
also the fact that the BT estimates are averages for a particular postcode whereas the
survey results are for an individual household within the postcode area. Figure 38
shows the potential download speeds mapped on the basis of the BT data overlain by
points showing the location of survey respondents and the tested download speeds they
reported (for standard broadband only i.e. excluding cable).

62

Figure 38. Reported survey download speeds compared to potential BT speed estimates.

63
Figure 39 and Table 7 set out the average tested standard broadband download speeds
reported by survey respondents within each of the four zones mapped on the basis of
the BT information. These data show that 92% of the survey responses from locations
within the areas mapped as having potential download speeds below mbps did show
speeds below this level, with the average being 1mbps. Furthermore, almost two thirds
(62%) of survey respondents from within the areas mapped as having potential
download speeds of between 2 and 5mbps also reported download speeds of below
2mbps, with the average in these areas being only 2.1mbps. This suggests that any
potential measures put in place in Wiltshire to ensure the provision of broadband
services above the Universal Service Commitment level of 2mbps should also look to
address the poor provision within the 2 to 5mbps mapped zone.

In the areas mapped as having higher potential download speeds (5mbps to 8mbps and
8mbps and above), the average download speeds reported in the survey were around
4mbps, with 24% to 30% of respondents reporting speeds of below 2mbps. The
significant minority of respondents in these areas reporting download speeds below
2mbps is interesting due to the relatively short distances to the local exchange. This
may suggest that other factors are involved in these cases.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
<2mbps areas 2 - 5mbps areas 5 - 8mbps areas >8mbps areas
A
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d
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(
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Figure 39. Average tested download speeds reported in the survey for locations within
the mapped BT speed zones (standard deviation indicated by the black lines).

64
BT Broadband
Speed Areas
Number of Survey
Responses
Average Tested
Download Speed
% of Reported
Download Speeds
Below 2mbps
<2 mbps 119 1.0 92%
2 5 mbps 268 2.1 62%
5 8 mbps 319 3.9 24%
>8 mbps 20 4.4 30%
Table 7. Average download speeds and percentage of responses below 2mbps for each
of the mapped BT speed zones.

5.6 Upload speeds
The average tested upload speeds reported in the survey generally range from around
0.3mbps to 0.5mbps for each ISP (Figure 40). Interestingly, the upload speeds reported
by users of Virgin Medias cable service were the same as those at the upper end of the
average for ADSL providers. One ADSL provider (Be Broadband) stands out as having
significantly higher upload speeds, with an average of over 0.9mbps, although only very
small number of survey respondents reported using this ISP so this figure should be
treated with caution.

0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Tiscali
AOL Broadband
Sky
BT
Talk Talk
Virgin Media ADSL
O2
Orange
Be Broadband
Plusnet
Virgin Media Cable
mbps

Figure 40. Average upload speeds reported for each ISP in the survey responses
(standard deviation indicated by the black lines).
65
6. 3G coverage in Wiltshire
The availability of 3G mobile services is of interest in this study as these services can
provide an internet connection. The maximum download speeds attainable are below
2mbps and so these services are not able to meet the Universal Service Commitment
level. A series of 3G coverage maps by mobile operator were prepared by Ofcom in
J anuary 2009
40
. These maps are based on theoretical predictions and indicate areas
where customers have the possibility of making and receiving calls outside over a 3G
network, rather than areas where customers are able to access higher data rate
services. The combined coverage maps for the five main providers (Three, O2, Orange,
T-Mobile and Vodaphone) for the Wiltshire area are show in Figure 41. This map
indicates that the majority of the north and west of the county and the Salisbury area are
reasonably well served by 3G, with two or more providers having coverage in these
areas. By contrast, there appears to be a band running approximately north-east to
south-west through the county, encompassing the central and western Salisbury Plain,
where coverage is absent or limited to a small number of providers.

40
Ofcom 3G Coverage Maps. 8
th
J uly 2009.
66

Figure 41. Approximate coverage of 3G networks in Wiltshire (from Ofcom 3G coverage
maps, July 2009
41
).

41
The key assumptions used by Ofcom were: Areas where the received signal strength of the primary CPICH
(Common Pilot Channel) was calculated to exceed a threshold of -110dBm was used as a proxy for coverage;
Outdoor (rather than indoor) coverage was calculated: Primary CPICH power equals 10% of the maximum transit
power: The propagation model used was ITU-R Rec P.15402: The indicated coverage represents areas where the
threshold is exceeded for 50% of locations 50% of the time: A comparison exercise with drive test data from sample
regions was carried out resulting in an additional correction factor of +8dB: All clutter class heights were set to a
nominal 10m default for our calculations. Clutter is the height of objects above the terrain, i.e. trees or buildings.
67
7. Summary of current situation and overview of potential solutions

7.1. Summary of the current situation in relation to USC and Final Third
benchmarks
At the present time around 40% of the geographic area of the county appears to have
potential broadband download speeds of below 2mbps the USC minimum level. This
area contains around 5% of households and around 7% of businesses. Within this area
there are a number of postcodes that are described as being very unlikely to receive a
fixed 256 or 512kbps service due to the long length of the line, with around 1% of
households in the county falling into this category of particularly poor service. Around
46% of the geographic area of the county, an area containing around 26% of
households and 23% of businesses, is mapped as having potential download speeds of
between 2mbps and 5mbps. However, a survey of actual measured download speeds
suggests that actual average speeds within this area are around 2mbps and that around
60% of households within this area may have speeds of below this level. This area
could therefore be considered as borderline for meeting the UCS level. These areas are
highlighted on Figure 42.

A number of settlements in the county are currently served by Virgin Medias cable next
generation service and so these areas will definitely not form part of the final third -
the approximately one third of the country where it is not expected that commercial
provision of a next generation broadband solution will occur
42
. The areas currently
provided with this service cover around 1% of the geographic area of the county but
contain around 34% of households. The areas currently receiving this service are also
highlighted on Figure 42.

42
As set out in the previous governments Digital Britain report.
68

Figure 42. Current provision of broadband services in Wiltshire relative to USC and Final
Third benchmarks.
69
7.2. Planned developments in broadband provision
The only known planned development in broadband provision at the time of the
preparation of this report is the roll-out of BTs FTTC service to Chippenham and
Trowbridge by end 2010 and to Calne by end 2011. These developments will enable
headline speeds of up to 40mbps in these exchange areas, although due to the nature
of the technology these speeds will not be available to all households, with speeds
decreasing with line length from the local cabinet and long lines still being an issue for
households furthest from the cabinets.

Under this development scenario, by end 2011 the difference in speeds between the
more and less advantaged areas will take on a four-tier structure, with the highest
headline speeds available in those areas with Virgin Medias cable service (<50mbps),
somewhat lower headline speeds available in the three exchange areas with BTs FTTC
(<40mbps), moderate headline speeds available in the two exchanges enabled with
BTs WBC but not FTTC (<24mbps) and much lower headline speeds, up to around
8mbps, available in all other areas (Figure 43).

70

Figure 43. Planned broadband provision by end 2011.

71
72

7.3. Relative business case for next generation deployment
As set out above, only a relatively small area of Wiltshire is currently served by next
generation broadband or is planned to be so in the near future. In order to examine the
relative business case for providing a next generation solution in the other areas of
Wiltshire, the household density has been established for all exchange areas and
compared to the current provision of next generation services
43
(Figure 44).

A strong business case is generally assumed in exchange areas where a next
generation service is currently available. Such a service is in place or planned in most
exchange areas with a household density of 150 households per km
2
or greater.
Devizes, Bradford on Avon and Corsham are the only exchange areas in the county that
fall into this category of a strong business case for market provision but are not currently
provided with a next generation service. A moderate business case is assumed where
the household density is between around 60 and 150 households per km
2
and a weak
business case where densities are around 60 households per km
2
and below, with the
majority of exchanges in the county falling into this weak category. In both these
categories existing data shows that market provision of a next generation solution may
occur, with this provision occurring in areas adjacent to locations with higher household
densities where there is a stronger business case.

43
It is recognised that this is not an ideal method because exchange areas with Virgin cable services are
only partly served and in areas where FTTC planned, not all premises will be served.

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Figure 44. Household density by exchange area. The exchange areas in which Virgin Media cable services are currently available are
highlighted in purple and those where BTs FTTC services are scheduled are highlighted in blue.
73

Figure 45. Estimated strength of business case for next generation service provision,
based on household density.
74
7.4. Potential solutions available
There are a number of potential solutions that may be employed to address both those
areas falling below the USC minimum level and those areas where a commercial roll-
out of a next generation service is unlikely. It should be noted that BDUK is working
nationally to address both these issues, with around 250m funding available to meet
the USC. It is likely that this funding will not be available until 2011 / 2012.

With regard to the USC, there are a number of projects throughout the UK that are
providing wireless broadband to rural areas through both commercial and non-
commercial enterprises
44
. It is technically possible to provide such a service to almost
any area, with speeds in excess of 2mbps. A number of Wiltshires schools have
broadband connections through the South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL)
45
and the
potential for using these schools to act as wireless hubs for rural communities with poor
broadband services is explored in a preliminary way here. Through this new system, all
of Wiltshires secondary schools and most primary schools have been provided with
broadband connections with speeds ranging from 2mbps to 30mbps. There is a
possibility that local communities with speeds below the USC minimum level could
piggy back on these connections in some way, potentially via wireless connections
using the schools as a hub
46
. There are a number of locations, particularly in the
northwest of the county and to the north and south of Salisbury, where a school with a
SWGfL broadband connection of 10mbps or greater is located within, or closely
adjacent to, an area identified as having download speeds of below 2mbps (Figure 46).
A number of these are locations where the schools are surrounded by postcodes
classified as having a particularly poor service (being very unlikely to receive a fixed
256kbps or 512kbps service due to the long length of the line). Such locations show
significant potential for this educational broadband system to be used to improve
provision for their local communities, although this is not a solution that could be applied
in all areas falling below the USC.

Commercial satellite broadband services are currently available that are capable of
providing a broadband service with speeds exceeding 2mbps to most areas of the UK
47
.
The biggest limitation on this service appears to be the costs, with hardware and
installation costs amounting to several hundred pounds. It may also be considered as a
short term solution as it does not provide speeds approaching next generation levels.

44
E.g. rural West Midlands - http://www.airband.ltd.uk/wireless.html; the Highlands and Islands of Scotland -
http://www.tegola.org.uk/wiki/index.php/Main_Page;
45
Connected to the JANET network, the UKs education and research network.
46
There are a number of both technical and legal issues that would need to be addressed in order to achieve this
including the precise nature of wireless technology that would be implemented (unidirectional and/or omni-
directional), negotiating access to the schools connection and potential legal / competition implications of providing
a service to these communities (if this were to be free of charge).
47
E.g. http://www.avonlinebroadband.co.uk/
75

Figure 46. Schools connected to the JANET network through the South West Grid for
Learning and their broadband bandwidths compared to the locations of areas with
potential download speeds below the USC minimum level.
76
There is considerable interest at a national level in the utilisation of existing
infrastructure to aid in the deployment of fibre optic next generation networks,
particularly to rural areas that are hard to reach by standard means. In this regard, the
sewerage and electricity networks are of interest in Wiltshire.

A map of the sewerage network catchments in Wiltshire has been obtained from
Wessex Water and compared to those areas of the county with only a moderate to
weak business case for commercial next generation deployment (as estimated in
Section 7.3 above). Coverage of this infrastructure is not comprehensive, with larger
settlements connected but large parts of rural Wiltshire not so (Figure 47)
48
. There
does, therefore, appear to be some potential that this infrastructure could be used to
roll out next generation fibre optic broadband to some larger settlements with weaker
business cases for commercial roll-out, but this potential solution would not address
issues in many rural areas, particularly in the south of the county, that are not
connected to the sewerage network.

The electricity overhead distribution network has significant potential to be used to
deploy next generation broadband solutions. Wiltshire is served by two Distribution
Network Operators (DNOs), Western Power Distribution and Scottish & Southern
Energy. Western Power Distribution has a sister telecommunications business, Surf
Telecoms
49
, that is involved in a trial with Virgin Media to use existing electricity poles to
extend the reach of Virgins broadband and other services and examine the use of this
method to provide next generation access in hard to reach rural areas
50
. This trial is
scheduled to run until 2011.

A potential full roll-out of BTs FTTC product to all exchanges in Wiltshire could provide
a next generation solution to most settlements. The full potential of this possible solution
cannot be fully assessed without knowing the locations of the cabinets, but it is known
that the provision of a next generation solution by this method is limited by telephone
line length from the cabinet and so those households with long lines from the cabinets,
presumably mainly in the rural areas with current poor services, would not benefit from
such a roll-out.

A detailed assessment of the feasibility of solutions is outside of the scope of this
project. However, the information contained within this report provides a general
understanding of the issues any chosen solutions will need to address with regard to
ensuring premises have broadband access above the USC level and providing next
generation access to less commercially attractive areas. It also demonstrates the
potential of some key possible solutions to address these issues. Given the nature of
the issues identified and intelligence gathered in conjunction with this study from
government and industry, it would seem that a mixed economy of solutions is most
likely to be required, with this mix encompassing both the technologies used and also
the nature of investments, ownership and ongoing maintenance of any new networks.

48
A number of areas in the east of the county are outside of the Wessex Water catchment areas and will be served
by different providers.
49
http://www.surftelecoms.co.uk
50
http://pressoffice.virginmedia.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=205406&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1452120&highlight
77

Figure 47. Wessex Water sewerage catchments in Wiltshire compared to those exchange
areas with a moderate to weak business case for commercial next generation
deployment.
78

Information about Wiltshire Council services can be made available on
request in other languages including BSL and formats such as large
print and audio.
Please contact the council by telephone 0300 456 0100,
by textphone 01225 712500,
or email customerservices@wiltshire.gov.uk

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