Frequently Asked Questions

Superfast broadband is the new generation of broadband - much faster, more reliable and using a different technology than we are all used to today. Whilst traditional broadband is delivered via copper telephone lines, superfast broadband commonly uses fibre optic cable. However, it's still relatively new and as such, the exact definition is still evolving.

Superfast fibre optic broadband has the potential to deliver upload and download speeds that are lightning fast when compared to traditional broadband - sometimes as high as 40Mbps to 100Mbps.

Although superfast broadband is mainly associated with fibre optic, other technologies such as wireless, satellite and advanced copper solutions can also be used to deliver high speed broadband. The Superfast Cornwall programme will be harnessing the potential of these technologies too, in order to make sure that everyone in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly can experience a step change in their broadband speeds by 2014.

Over the course of the Superfast Cornwall programme, it is likely that the exact speeds that can be delivered by superfast broadband will themselves improve, just as the definition of 'superfast broadband' will continue to evolve!

Up until now, most people in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have had ADSL broadband. ADSL broadband uses an existing copper wire telephone line by splitting the line into one channel for voice and the other for high speed data.

With copper wire, the speed of data transmission drops off quite quickly as the length of the wire increases, so that the speed of an ADSL broadband connection can vary, depending on how far away from the telephone exchange you are.

Fibre optic cable, on the other hand, uses fibres made of glass to transmit light signals. Each fibre is a little thicker than  a hair and can transmit phenomenal amounts of data over huge distances.

The exact internet speeds you will be able to get will depend on how your own premises are connected to superfast broadband. There are two main methods, 'fibre to the cabinet' (FTTC) and 'fibre to the premises' (FTTP).

To get superfast broadband, you'll need to place an order with an Internet Service Provider (ISP). This is because superfast broadband uses a different technology (i.e. fibre optics) and an engineer will need to visit your premises to install the necessary equipment.

There are several ISPs offering superfast broadband in Cornwall so you can shop around and choose the package that is best for you. However, if you choose not to order superfast broadband, you'll be able to continue using your existing service under the terms of your existing contract with your ISP.

Superfast broadband is being rolled out across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly over the next two years. To see if it is available in your area yet, click here. You can also contact your internet service provider (ISP) to find out.

Take a look here to see where superfast broadband has now started to become available.

Superfast broadband is available from a number of internet service providers. You can see a list of current providers here.

Contact the internet service provider you choose and you should find it easy to connect to superfast broadband, so long as you are in an area where it is already available.

Contact Superfast Cornwall by email at info@superfastcornwall.org for local independent advice if you have a query that cannot be resolved by your internet service provider.

The prices vary from different internet service providers, but the prices are far more affordable than you might think, starting from only around £18 for home users and £30 for businesses!

Check out the prices from internet service providers now offering the service in Cornwall.

The exact speeds you will be able to get will depend on how your own premises are connected. There are two main ways in which fibre optic can be used to bring you superfast broadband.

'Fibre to the cabinet' is when the fibre optic cabling runs from the exchange to a local cabinet (these are green cabinets you will see by the side of the road around your local area) and then copper wires run between the cabinet and your premises. This combination of fibre optic and copper can deliver speeds of up to 40Mbps download and 10Mbps upload at present but technical improvements should see these headline speeds roughly double in the near future to 80Mbps download and 20Mbps upload, making fibre to the cabinet a very exciting and future-proof technology.

'Fibre to the premises' is at the cutting edge of superfast broadband technology. This is when fibre optic cable runs directly from the exchange right into your premises. This will deliver download speeds of up to 300Mbps and upload speeds of up to 30Mbps.

Mbps (or Mb/s) stands for Megabits per second, and it is the way in which internet speeds are measured. One bit means one piece of basic information, and one Megabit is a million such bits of information.

There will be some variation within any one exchange area. Not everyone can be guaranteed to achieve the top speeds, as there are a number of factors that influence this. For example, for a 'fibre to the cabinet' connection, these include the distance from your nearest green roadside cabinet, the line quality and your internal wiring. However, Superfast Cornwall is working to ensure that everyone gets as fast a speed as possible given their geographical location.

Even these homes and businesses will still be able to have faster broadband than at present by 2014. We are aiming to use other technologies, such as wireless, satellite and advanced copper based technologies to bring faster broadband to anyone who wants it and cannot get fibre optic connections.

Many exchange areas in Cornwall have started to get superfast broadband and as time goes on more and more will also start to get availability. Click here for a map showing when it is planned to come to your area.

Parts of an exchange area will start to get superfast broadband before others, as different technologies are being deployed to achieve coverage. See how a typical exchange area is built.

Superfast Cornwall is a hugely ambitious and challenging programme, bringing superfast broadband to 250,000 premises during the 2011-14 timescale.

We aim to provide fibre-based superfast broadband to 80% - 90% of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly by 2014.  This requires considerable engineering works to upgrade the telecommunications infrastructure with the installation of over 100,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable. The 10% - 20% of premises outside the fibre footprint will benefit from alternative technologies, providing them with a step change in their current broadband speeds.

Watch our short animation to discover exactly how the fibre footprint is built. 

It is inevitable that in a programme of this size some areas will be enabled before others. Whilst planning the rollout, we worked closely with our partners and participating organisations, taking into account many factors including local demographics and geography, planning requirements and engineering issues.  We have always sought to maintain a balance between the main towns and the more isolated areas, and this is evident in the phasing of the rollout which shows both larger towns and smaller areas being upgraded to superfast broadband at each stage. We fully understand people's frustration and the huge importance of superfast broadband to everyone and businesses in particular.  It is worth noting however that this programme in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is leading Europe in building a rural broadband infrastructure for our future and by the time Cornwall has completed this rollout in 2014, there will probably still be parts of the country that have not even started.

Firstly, see our map of exchanges to check if superfast broadband is available in your exchange area.

If so, check your line to find out if you can get it. If you can, contact a participating Internet Service Provider (ISP) to upgrade.

And if it's not available to you yet, complete our contact form to stay in the loop for updates.

Between 20-30% of premises in enabled areas cannot get superfast broadband yet.

This is due to a number of different factors.

1) You may be on an 'exchange only' line one that is connected directly to the telephone exchange, without an intervening green roadside cabinet. Regulations do not currently allow the technology used to deliver superfast broadband from the cabinets to be used in the exchanges. However, we are in the process of developing solutions for these exchange only lines

2) You may be on a line that is too long to support a superfast broadband connection from your local roadside cabinet. We are developing alternative solutions to ensure these premises get faster broadband than is currently available to them

3) Your line may be connected to a roadside cabinet that has not yet been upgraded to superfast broadband for a number of other reasons. This includes planning issues, power supply issues and other technical factors, such as the cabinet carrying a high proportion of long lines. We are looking at what can be done with each of these roadside cabinets on an individual basis.

We are working hard to upgrade as many premises as possible to superfast broadband and where fibre optic superfast cannot be made available, we are aiming to develop solutions to bring faster broadband through alternative technologies by 2014.

Watch our short animation to discover how the fibre footprint is built in a typical exchange, and why some parts will get superfast broadband before others.

We are doing everything we can to bring superfast broadband to as many people as possible just as soon as possible. Within enabled areas, many premises will not get superfast broadband striaghtaway and we will be addressing these by 2014. This is quite complex as there are various different reasons why not everyone in an enabled area can get superfast broadband. Our programme is developing solutions which aim to ensure that all premises will receive faster broadband during the course of the 2011-14 programme, and these will be brought forward at various stages.

Watch our short animation to discover how the fibre footprint is built in a typical exchange, and why some parts will get superfast broadband before others.

There are a very small number of remote places in Cornwall which are unable to get ADSL broadband. Through the Superfast Cornwall programme, we will be able to find new and ingenious solutions for these areas and ensure that there are absolutely no 'notspots' in Cornwall by 2014.

The time before installation of superfast broadband may vary from one internet service provider to another but typically it would take about two weeks. If you have a 'fibre to the cabinet' connection, an engineer will call and install a new modem at your premises and you will receive a new router from your internet service provider. All your other telephone and computer equipment need not be replaced.

Cloud computing is the next stage in the evolution of the Internet. It is a relatively new term that describes the use of information technology services and resources that are provided on a service basis. In cloud computing, everything - from computing power to computing infrastructure, applications and business processes - are delivered to you as a service wherever and whenever you need.

The software and data are no longer hosted on your computer or server, but remotely at a data centre. Some cloud computing services are free and some are available as a pay-as you-go service. Because it is easy to scale up and down and because the user doesn't have to know anything about the underlying technology, individuals can access the most sophisticated software and application programming interfaces (APIs).

Many people already use cloud computing services without realising it things like email accounts, Facebook, You Tube and Google Maps.

One of the great selling points of cloud computing is lower costs. Businesses will have lower technology based capital expenditure. Cloud computing also enables users to access systems no matter where they are located or what kind of device they are using.

This flexibility is what is attracting individuals and businesses to move to the cloud.

These examples illustrate the different types of cloud computing services available today:

Amazon EC2 - virtual IT
Google App Engine - application hosting
Google Apps - software as a service
Apple MobileMe - network storage

Other business applications like CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems are available from a number of suppliers.

Anyone wanting to host data reliably and inexpensively could manage this in a number of ways. They could rent server space or co-locate their own servers in a data centre. They could also run the software and operating system remotely as a 'virtual machine' in the cloud, and this is a solution that a number of companies in Cornwall with hosting requirements use.

The data centre would be best located in a major facility, with the presence of multiple carriers connected to it. In some cases, e.g. hosting cloud based solutions, it would make sense to be close to an Internet exchange (London / Manchester).

With superfast broadband, there are a number of advantages when hosting data in these ways - the upload speeds are much higher, enabling data to be uploaded efficiently to remote data centres, and back-ups can be more easily maintained.

Sometimes companies do want to be closer to their actual data for one reason or another. Although this is generally considered unnecessary these days, sensitive data like medical information may need storing in a known location. In this case, there are established data centre facilities in Exeter and Plymouth.

A company aiming to provide content that was predominantly used on the superfast broadband network in Cornwall would need to consider the advantages of hosting data more locally as this would reduce transit charges.

Plenty of telecoms providers will continue to offer dedicated fibre leased line services to premises in Cornwall for a price.

When considering the architecture of any network requiring significant bandwidth, it is worth bearing in mind the 'Points of Handover' that will be established in 14 of Cornwall and Isles of Scilly's major telephone exchanges (there are a total of 100 exchanges). These will be exchanges in which a number of competing providers will be able to provide competitively priced links through to major points of presence, such as internet exchanges, outside of Cornwall.

Under first generation broadband services, your contention ratio (such as 20:1) told you how many other users your internet connection could be shared with at the busiest times of day (usually 4pm-7pm). It doesn't mean other people will be using your connection, but it refers to other connections that all come together at an "aggregation point" like a cabinet or an exchange.

With superfast broadband services, rather than a contention ratio, some internet service providers are choosing to guarantee a minimum throughput such as 16Mb/s is guaranteed for 90% of the busiest time of day (4-7pm)

A virtual private network (VPN) is a computer network that is constructed by using a public network, usually the internet, to enable remote offices or individual users to get secure access to their organisation's network. This network uses encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only authorised users can access the network and that the data cannot be intercepted.

Companies and organisations use a VPN to communicate confidentiality over the internet and it can be used to send voice, video or data. With a VPN, remote workers and organisations with offices and partners across the globe can share data in privacy. A VPN enables a business to work flexibly, with employees working remotely or from a home office. This can bring many benefits, in terms of productivity, cost savings and work-life balance.