County Broadband

County Broadband wrote to our Chairman on 1st October 2021, which you can read here, to make him aware that they would like to build parish wide broadband networks in Knapton and the surrounding parishes and to recruit the Parish Council’s support as part of their marketing strategy.
We are on record as saying that we want every Knapton Parish resident to be able to enjoy a high quality, reliable broadband service that meets today’s demands and County are offering a solution which does just that, thereby removing the inconsistency of the location lottery and giving every resident in our parish a choice they’ve not had before.

The construction of this network requires significant investment from County Broadband but we need to establish there is enough demand in your community for receiving this future-ready service. If we can reach our target uptake of 28%, we will be able to commence our plans to ensure you can access a future-ready service.
Lloyd Felton | CEO

County Broadband’s Knapton page

Click on the image on the right to go to County Broadband’s home page
then enter your postcode in the white box
and click go to visit their dedicated Knapton page

County Broadband logo

and what are the benefits

Broadband has become an essential service, almost without us noticing, as we video call family and friends, stream TV, play on-line and connect our smart services for both convenience and pleasure.

  • Large households
    If your household has three or more internet users, broadband needs the bandwidth to comfortably cope with everyone going online at once. To connect all your computers, smartphones, tablets, TV set-top boxes, games consoles, and smart appliances at the same time
  • Speed
    Speeds of between 50 and 900mbps, with commensurate pricing plans, allow each household to choose the ideal plan to meet their daily on-line needs.
  • Reliability
    Their service agreement guarantees 99% uptime

Vouchers from the Government’s Gigabit Voucher Scheme are worth up to
£1,500 for homes and £3,500 for businesses

Click to go to the Government’s website and find out how the scheme works

They will help to cover the costs of installing County’s Real Full Fibre Broadband
to every home in the Parish

With your permission, County will apply for the vouchers on your behalf

…but I’m in already in a contract

Whilst contractual ties may dictate when residents can change, we feel that it’s important for us to investigate the possibilities for improvement for the parish as a whole and to be able to offer an alternative to every resident when the time is right.”

Peter Neatherway 
Knapton Parish Council | Chair

the County Broadband solution

Given that most prospective customer’s will already be tied into a contract with their existing broadband supplier, County have a well thought out and innovative solution.   Provided that the householder signs up to their agreement at the outset and advises them of the existing contract end date, then County Broadband will

  • provide the cabling to the home or premises FREE
  • provide a full fibre router FREE
  • connect the service FREE
  • provide their full fibre broadband service for up to 12 months FREE

Once the existing agreement ends, only then with County start to charge the householder.

Knapton Parish Council’s view

Having spent almost 40 years in the IT and Telecoms industry I understand the benefits that a fast, reliable broadband service offers to home-workers, children’s schooling, home automation, connection & security and the demands placed on today’s internet service by every member of every family.   All of us use the Internet to a lesser or greater extent and the Covid experience has highlighted the need for a reliable home broadband service which I’m sure contributed to the NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) identifying the quality of a broadband service as a top priority for potential home buyers.

The Parish Council’s responsibility stretches further than the limits of BT’s green cabinet and the dismal service it provides at it’s outer limits. In seeking to support a future-proof, full fibre broadband solution that is available to every household in the parish, we are supporting a choice and a future which many have never had.

It may not be perfect but I’m not aware of any service or provider which is. However once installed I expect an increased number of providers to increase competition causing market forces to prevail and maintain high levels of service and competitive pricing.

I understand that there will be some amongst us who choose not to sign up for the service because they feel that the technology and the benefits it provides are not for them, but that’s the point… they have a choice which has not previously been available to them.

Therefore I, supported by the Parish Council, feel that the installation package and broadband service offered by County Broadband provides the best solution currently available across the parish and meets the ever increasing on-line needs of today as well as providing tangible future proofing for tomorrow.

Peter Neatherway
Knapton Parish Council | Chair