Fastershire is entering a period of high activity
• Gigaclear are moving into South Herefordshire and, we are assured, will be accelerating their ongoing work in the north of the county;
• Airband are progressing through the county and have just engaged a strategic contractor to accelerate their pace;
• Full Fibre Ltd are continuing their work in Leominster, have moved into Ledbury and are now committed to deliver Ross on Wye; and
• ZZOOMM have begun their full fibre deployment for the entirety of Hereford City alongside a less specific announcement from Openreach in the same area.

All of these operators will be working intensively in Herefordshire during 2021 and 2022. This is excellent news for the county’s digital connectivity bringing associated benefits to the Herefordshire economy, environment and society but it will be a period of significant pressure on the highway network that needs to be managed effectively during this period.

The Network Management: Streetworks & Licensing Team is a small team of 2 within BBLP that processes notices from utilities and manages the coordination of street works across the county. They are currently spending a significant amount of time already supporting our broadband providers. The NSWR Technician estimates that 40-50% of their time is taken processing broadband related notices.

When the anticipated exponential rise in activity manifests in more noticing requests, this will put increasing strain on the BBLP team and backlogs in the processing of notices. This risks delays to the deployment and missing opportunities to coordinate between the suppliers generating efficiencies for the broadband build. These might include for instance minimising the conflict between the broadband build and existing and planned Section 58s.

The council to contribute to the cost of undertaking bridge surveys where our providers are crossing structures. Also, an additional NRSWA Inspector role for a 12 month period and a dedicated Fastershire Streetworks Coordinator role again for a 12 month period and focused solely on the work of broadband providers.

Job descriptions for both roles have been provided.

Role FY 21/22
NRSWA Inspector £28k
Fastershire Streetworks Coordinator £25k
Bridge Surveys £3.2k
Total £56.2k

The contribution of £56,200 is committed to BBLP from the Fastershire capital budget to support 2 roles and additional bridge survey capability subject to
• These roles working exclusively on the broadband programme for the county
• Regular reports being provided to the Fastershire team on their activity and
• Attendance at the Fastershire Strategic Operations meetings.