Mytholmroyd FTTC
On 23rd March BT announced the homes in Mytholmroyd connected to the Calder Valley exchange will be amongst the first BT will invest in. BT intends to replace phone lines connected to 29 exchanges, Mytholmroyd is one of the two rural exchanges earmarked. BT will actually have to dig up the roads to place fibre cables between the exchange and the green cabinet at the end of peoples street. For this investment they will stop there, the cable that goes from the green cabinet to houses will stay the same.
This is similar to the offering Virgin Media has made to some of the areas with cable TV. Improved internet speeds will be available.
As opposed to a full replacement of cables
It is clearly an improvement on the current infrastructure but the 'Our Net' project is to investigate what investment our community wants and to find a means of providing it. Can we say now that BT's proposals fulfil the technology needs of the Upper Calder Valley? The obvious is that it only covers Mytholmroyd not Sowerby Bridge, Hebden Bridge or Todmorden however it is likely with engineering in place the other towns are well placed when further expansion happens.
More of an issue is that BT has chosen fibre to the cabinet. It is not the case that this is a step on the way to full replacement. BT announced in July 2008 that it intends to mix full replacement (called fibre to the home or FTTH) with FTTC.
Unfortunately fibre to the cabinet is not as good a technological improvement as full replacement; that last bit of wire from the green cabinet to the house limits the purposes you can put the new connection to. The 'Our Net' project will find out what we want from investment, this intermediate engineering compromise might not be the answer.
A compromise that may prevent our full inclusion in a modern digital world
BT has its plans which may or may not fulfil our needs for an upgrade of our infrastructure. If what BT provides does not deliver, if they should have chosen fibre to the home for the Upper Calder Valley it may be a very long time to rectify the mistake. BT will put fibre to the home in some places as they have announced, however it is unlikely they will revisit FTTC enabled regions.
What if BT's offer isn't enough?
It will be a problem for the people living in Mytholmroyd if FTTC just isn't what is needed. FTTC does undermine the impetus to implement full replacement of the communication cables which provide access to modern business and society. For the towns not mentioned Sowerby Bridge, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden we have a little time for the 'Our Net' project to find the right solution for them.