Welcome to Superfast North Yorkshire

Superfast North Yorkshire (SFNY) is the name given to the project bringing Superfast Broadband to North Yorkshire.  The project is built around a partnership between North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) and BT to deliver fibre based broadband to the county but also brings together other initiatives by NYCC to address rural areas where the fibre based coverage is not available (the so called ‘not’spots).

The SFNY project is managed on behalf of NYCC by NYNET, it’s 100% owned broadband company, and is financed by a mixture of funds from Central Government (via Broadband Delivery UK-BDUK), Europe and NYCC.

This website is continually updated so please check regularly.

If you register your details with us, we will let you know when faster broadband is available to order.

Superfast broadband provides download speeds of 25Mbps and above, with upload speeds from 5Mbps.

Superfast broadband is the new generation of broadband – it is much faster, more reliable and uses different technologies.

Whilst traditional broadband (known as ADSL) is wholly delivered via copper telephone lines from the exchange, superfast broadband typically adds a fibre optic cable between the fibre network and the local cabinet (Fibre to the Cabinet, FTTC) or customer (Fibre to the Premise, FTTP).

FTTC provides download speeds up to 80Mbps and upload speeds up to 20Mbps.  The speed you get at your property will depend on a number of factors, such as:

• the length of your line from the local (green) roadside cabinet.
• the quality of that line.
• and your own equipment,internal wiring and use of WiFi within your property.

FTTP  is not affected by distance in the way FTTC is, although it will be affected by your own equipment, internal wiring and use of WiFi within your property.

If you check the where and when map on this website it will provide details of the ‘status’ of your property in terms of superfast availability.

If you are one of the premises in North Yorkshire that has already been upgraded you should contact your choice of Internet Service Providers to place an order.

If you are one of the premises in North Yorkshire that has not yet been upgraded, please register your details.  The SFNY Team will then email you when superfast broadband becomes available.

By the middle of 2017, SFNY will have completed Phase 2 of our rollout and brought superfast broadband to 89% of the county’s homes and businesses.  SFNY is currently working on a Phase 3 procurement to further extend superfast coverage.

If you are not in our current plans, please refer to the section on Alternative Providers who may be able to provide an improved broadband service.

If you are not in our current plans, and cannot get at least 2Mbps, you may be eligible for a subsidy under the Better Broadband Scheme.  If you think you are eligible, you can apply by completing a simple on line application form here.

Firstly, check if superfast broadband is available at your property on our map.

If superfast broadband is available, the process is much the same as ordering normal broadband.  There are a number of different Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offering a superfast service, so you should shop around and choose the best deal for you.  There is a list of ISPs currently offering superfast broadband in North Yorkshire on this website.

Ofcom accredit four comparison websites here  www.broadbandchoices.co.uk, www.simplifydigital.co.uk, www.cable.co.uk and www.broadband.co.uk, although there are others as well.

Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) requires more work at your premises and back in the network, so orders can take longer to deliver.  There is more help with ordering FTTP later in these FAQs.

If you have a query that cannot be resolved by your ISP, please email Superfast North Yorkshire at mailto:info@superfastnorthyorkshire.com.  The SFNY Team will seek to offer further guidance.

In most cases, the upgrade involves installing at least one new cabinet as well as running fibre optic cables from that new cabinet back to the network.

Planning a rollout on this scale means BT have to work closely with SFNY and other participating organisations, taking into account many factors including local planning requirements, the existing infrastructure, wayleaves, traffic management on highways, arranging power supply and so on.

It is simply not possible with a programme of this nature, spread over a county as large as North Yorkshire, to plan the delivery of each location specifically.  As a result, some areas will be deployed and enabled before others.  The SFNY Team fully appreciates the significant benefits superfast broadband will bring and understands the frustration when specific delivery dates cannot be given.  The Team does endeavour to keep the mapping on the website updated.

This can be due to a number of factors:-

(a)  Your telephone line may be connected to a local (green) roadside cabinet that has not yet been upgraded.  As the rollout progresses more and more cabinets will be upgraded. You can therefore register on this website for email updates that will advise you when superfast broadband is available to your property (register).

(b)  Your telephone line may be connected to a local(green) roadside cabinet that has been upgraded, but the distance of your property from that cabinet exceeds a critical distance.  That distance is 1.2kms as the ‘wire wiggles’ not the ‘crow flies’ and broadband speeds reduce significantly beyond this length.

(c)  Your telephone line may not be connected to a local (green) roadside cabinet but is connected directly to the exchange.  These are called Exchange Only (EO) lines and they typically require the building of at least two new cabinets, meaning other locations are cheaper and upgraded sooner.

Although everyone interested should register with SFNY, the broadband rollout programme is not dependent on the number of registrations of interest.

No.  To get superfast broadband, you will need to place an order with an Internet Service Provider (ISP).  This is because superfast broadband uses a different technology to your current broadband and an engineer needs to make changes to your local network and may need to visit your property.

There are several ISPs offering superfast broadband in North Yorkshire so you can shop around and choose the best deal to meet your requirements.

You do not have to upgrade to superfast broadband.  You can continue using your existing broadband service if you wish.

The superfast broadband market is very competitive.  Each Internet Service Provider (ISP) will offer a range of products, and prices.  You can use a number of comparison websites to find the best deal for your needs in your area.  Ofcom accredit four comparison websites here, although there are others as well.

This may not be much more than you are currently paying for standard broadband.  Indeed, the SFNY Team are aware that many customers have taken this opportunity to review their existing contract for telephone calls and TV bundles and ended up paying only a little more, if anything at all.

Typically ,it will take about two weeks between placing your order and installation.  However, timings will vary between the Internet Service Providers(ISPs).

In most cases, the ISP will post out a new router for you to install.  They come with instructions and are not usually difficult to install.  You will be given an installation date by your ISP and on that day and Openreach engineer will make the required changes to the local network.  It may not be necessary for the engineer to visit your property.  Your ISP will be able to help on the day if you have any problems.

In most cases, your existing telephone and computer equipment should not need to be replaced or upgraded.

Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) orders, typically, take longer to install.  There is more work to do in the local area and an engineer will definitely have to visit your property.  See the specific FAQs on FTTP for more detail.

No.  Although the contract for both Phases 1 and 2 of the rollout have been awarded to BT their network is ‘open’.  This means that you have a free choice of Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Each District Council in North Yorkshire is a member of the SFNY Engagement Group, which provides local support to the programme.

District Councils help promote superfast broadband to businesses and residents, including alternative broadband providers, providing access to business support opportunities, advice and grants.  District Councils can be contacted as follows

Yes, to deliver a fibre cable direct into your home, rather than to the street cabinet requires a different installation process.  Most of the differences will be managed by the Openreach engineer so you don’t need to worry about the work required.

The main difference you will notice is that the engineer will fit a small box to the outside of your property.  This is where the fibre cable will enter your home.  We will then run an uninterrupted fibre cable from the box outside your property into the fibre optical network termination unit (ONT), and a battery backup unit will be installed.  This cable is up to 30m in length and can be installed inside or outside your home.  This needs to be connected to your fibre router and is supplied with a 3m cable to link to the two together.

Please note, the 30m fibre cable cannot go under carpets or bend tightly around walls because it contains an actual fibre strand to deliver your superfast broadband speed.  The engineer will discuss the options you have for installation on the day to help you find the best place for your new equipment.  It saves time if you know where you would like this positioned ahead of the engineers visit.

If you are in a FTTP enabled area, not all Internet Service Provider (ISP) currently offer an FTTP service, so you might not be informed by your ISP that it is available.  You may need to consider changing providers.

Checking out the range of ISP offers and placing an order is the same as with FTTC, although it is likely choice will be more limited until more ISPs begin to offer FTTP.

When placing an order, the Internet Service Provider (ISP) will provide you with dates when an engineer will come out to carry out surveys and tests.

In the early stages of an order, a site survey may be required.  This is to investigate what work needs to be carried out in order to provide you with a service.

No work will be carried out without your permission, and agreeing to any costs that may be associated with this.

The installation for FTTP will take place in two stages:

Stage 1: External Work: Bringing the fibre cable to your property.

There is no requirement for you to be present or at home for this part of the installation process, provided the engineer has access to the outside of your property.

The fibre cable will need to be connected to a small box (approx. 15cm x 10cm x 3 cm) which will need to be fixed to your outside wall of your property.  The box will be installed at a height that can be worked on from ground level.

There may be a short outage to your telephone service during this work.   If you have an alarm on your telephone line, please let your alarm provider know that your line may go down for a few minutes.  The downtime could trigger a false alarm on any security or fire system linked to your telephone line.

Stage 2: Internal Work: Engineer appointment to complete the fibre installation inside your home.

The engineer will bring the fibre into your home and fit your fibre optical network termination unit (ONT) and ISP provider router in locations agreed with you. Both the ONT and router will each require their own power socket.

You will need to be at home for this element of the installation.  The engineer will need to have access to the inside of your home to fit your fibre equipment.

The appointment could last between two and four hours.

FTTP requires the fitment of a small box to the outside of your property – it is not optional.  This box is 15cm x 10cm x 3cm and the Openreach engineers will work in the tidiest way possible to minimise any impact.  They are also continually updating their colour choices so they can fit a box which will be as discreet as possible.

As you need to be at home for the duration of the appointment, you will be asked for your availability when you place your order.

A sales agent will call you to confirm the time/date of the appointment before they finalise your order.

If they are unable to contact you, they may arrange for the first available appointment time (taking your availability information into consideration) and they may send you an email confirming the date.

The ONT is a smart piece of equipment that’s been specially designed to work on BT's fibre optic network.

Its job is to control the fibre optic light signal between your router and Openreach’s network.

The optical network termination unit (ONT) cannot be connected to any extension sockets throughout your home, it will need its own dedicated socket.  Similarly, your ISP's router needs to be connected to the Openreach ONT, and also have its own socket.

The engineer will install the new equipment for you, and will do his best to ensure it’s in the most convenient place for your needs.

Openreach will provide you with a fibre cable direct to your home that is capable of running at the headline speed of 330Mbps downstream at the router.

You will need to select the relevant product  from your chosen Internet Service Provider (ISP) to benefit from the fastest speeds the network can offer.

However, the speed you actually experience may be lower depending on how you choose to connect your computer and other devices.  A wired connection, using the port labelled ‘GigE’ offers you the maximum speed.  If you use wireless, this will limit the speed you experience because of the limitations of wireless within the home.

Other factors can also impact the actual speed you experience; including the type of website you are trying to view, how many other users are visiting that website and the specification of your device.

All of these issues are common to all forms of broadband.

You need to check that FTTP is available in the area by using the Openreach website.

There is a FAQ section, and the final FAQ “I can’t find the answer about Superfast Fibre I’m looking for in your FAQs” reveals a web form that can be completed and submitted.

It will go to the right people in Openreach who will be able to respond to your query and provide guidance on the next steps.