The Wormshill Fibre Broadband Project aims to provide access to the latest ‘gigabit’ broadband to all homes in Bedmonton, Wormshill and Frinsted by using Kent County Council and Government grants to have BT OpenReach install entirely new cables to all homes. Click or tap here to read more about the project.
It’s worth noting that traditional phone lines are changing from 2025 – click or tap here to read about that. It means that our land-lines phones won’t work in a power cut from 2025 regardless of whether we get the fibre upgrade or not.
Getting The Service
- Pledging your support for the project costs nothing. The pledge is your commitment to take the new service when it’s available, which is how the Government validate the demand for the service.
- The work BT OpenReach do in the roads and on the poles to provide the service is paid for by the grants.
- When the new service when is available, the upgrade is free. BT OpenReach will come and install a new cable to your home and provide a new socket next to your existing phone socket. The cost of this work is all factored in to the overall cost which is paid for by the grants.
- Residents must pay the normal monthly cost of the new broadband service they select, which will be the same for us as it will be for anywhere else with the service.
- Whilst BT OpenReach are doing the work, we can take service from any normal provider such as BT, EE, PlusNet, Sky, or Talktalk.
Service Options
Unfortunately the market is quite complicated and there are probably hundreds of options available.
Residents will normally be able to continue with their current provider – whether that’s BT, Sky, EE, PlusNet, TalkTalk, or others. Since not all providers offer the new type of service, some residents may need to change supplier.
Regardless of the supplier chosen, a range of ‘speeds’ and ‘packages’ will be on offer. To qualify for the voucher funding, residents must chose a service that is at least 100Mbps – unless you currently have less than 25Mbps available (which is all of Bedmonton, most of Frinsted, and Park Lane in Wormshill) where a 50Mbps service is enough to qualify.
When connecting to the new service, you will be provided with a new router. Many providers also offer ‘mesh’ WiFi systems that will dramatically improve the WiFi signal in larger homes.
For BT Customers
BT’s ‘full fibre’ broadband is available with or without a traditional phone line. Keeping your existing phone line, the prices are as shown below. If you don’t need a phone line, the prices are £5pm less than shown.
To check the latest prices, click or tap here and enter ‘ME9 0TH’ as the postcode.
The current services available from BT with a phone line, confusingly named ‘fibre 1’ and ‘fibre 2’ are £33.99 and £37.99 respectively. Prices vary from time to time and there are frequently ‘special offers’.
If you currently have BT’s ‘Fibre 2’ service with a phone line and were to upgrade to ‘Fibre 100’ without a phone line, the monthly cost would be reduced by £3pm. If you keep a phone line, the monthly cost would be increased by £2pm.
For EE Customers
EE offer a low-cost home broadband service usually without a phone line (i.e., it’s Internet only) with two speed options available costing £28pm for the basic service and £31pm for the faster service (or £30pm and £33pm with a phone line).
Their ‘full fibre service’ is available only without a phone line and their 100Mbps service is £35pm, an increase of between £2pm and £7pm over the services we can get today.
To check the latest prices, click or tap here and enter ‘ME9 0TH’ as the postcode.
For PlusNet Customers
PlusNet are a ‘low cost’ provider and are part of BT. PlusNet have long delayed the launch of their fibre services , but have now confirmed the service will be available later this year and certainly in time for the Wormshill project to complete, which won’t be until Spring 2023 at least. Expect ‘full fibre’ prices to be slightly cheaper than BT and EE.
For Sky Customers
Sky offer ‘superfast’ Broadband (as currently available to us) at £26pm or £28pm for the faster version, both including a phone line. The ‘Ultrafast’ (full-fibre) service is currently £33pm:
For TalkTalk Customers
TalkTalk are a very low cost provider for Broadband services and the current service available to us is £23.50pm including a phone line. Their ‘future fibre 150’ service is £32pm and this currently includes both an Amazon mesh router and a £75 shopping voucher. Additional ‘mesh’ units can be added to boost WiFi signal around the home.
The only downside to TalkTalk appears to be that a phone line is not available at all with their ‘future fibre’ services.
Click or tap here to check their latest pricing and enter ‘ME9 0TH’ as the postcode.
