A decade ago you’d be hard-pressed to find any resident management company who knew or cared about what broadband infrastructure was available across their estate/s. Fast forward ten years and it’s become one of the biggest bug-bears for tenants, which means it’s now very much hitting the top of their agenda.
The fact is access good quality digital infrastructure is a priority for home-movers. It’s no longer a nicety – it can seriously impact the decision-making process as much as proximity to good schools and transport links. It forms the foundation of the connected home and when it doesn’t perform well, our quality of life suffers.
Post-code lottery
This means that resident management companies and property managers need to know what infrastructure is available, and crucially what the process is to enhance it. Currently broadband is very much a post-code lottery. USwitch recently reported that the average speed in the UK was 46.2Mbps, but 13% of homes have speeds below 5Mbps. Also, according to research by Think Broadband, one in eight new properties have speeds so slow they fall below the Government’s minimum requirement of 10Mbps.
Adding fibre to your diet
So why the huge discrepancies between speeds? It’s due to the very different types of broadband infrastructures, namely:
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ADSL broadband - Many blocks still only have access to copper based ADSL broadband that cannot deliver over 5Mbps
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Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) – this is what is most commonly available and sold as ‘fibre’ by many of the big Internet Service Providers. This is somewhat misleading, as FTTC simply means that there is fibre to a junction box on the street, so the connection into the building is still delivered over copper phone lines. As a result, there continue to be huge issues with peak-time slowdowns and distance attenuation, further away the property is from the telephone exchange, or the higher the flat the poorer the service
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Fibre-to-the-Building (FTTB) – also known as ‘full fibre.’ the ‘gold standard’ of broadband – its now available across 8% of the UK and the government is commited for everyone to have it by 2033. With full fibre the customer can enjoy symmetrical gigabit broadband services at 1,000Mbps. With these speeds, HD movies can be downloaded in seconds and families can simultaneously access the Internet, without any frustrating slowdowns, buffering or timeouts.
Getting up to speed
Once installed, a full-fibre connection can also be leveraged for other purposes which could add value to the development for residents – such as offering communal Wi-Fi hotspots. In addition, in the future this type of broadband will almost certainly be used for IPCCTV (Internet-enabled CCTV) for security systems and monitoring. Also, if every unit in the development is connected at once, which can easily be done in a new development, it means that residents can be online within minutes of moving in – removing wait times for installation and maximising rental returns.
The process for installing full fibre is simple. In the case of Hyperoptic, once a wayleave is agreed, we provide an original specification, followed by a cost neutral installation. Hyperoptic then undertakes maintenance at its own cost going forward. Cabling is laid through risers and along corridors and then each flat that wants the technology is connected to a central hub. It is no more disruptive than installing satellite TV and depending on the size of the building can take from a couple of days up to a week or two to complete the installation.
Connectivity is now an essential utility. Flat owners and renters expect it as standard. Property managers that provide a future-proofed reliable connection are therefore a step closer to minimising rental voids and, crucially, keeping tenants satisfied.
Daniel Craven, Head of Sales, Hyperoptic
