The benefits of the Gigabit Broadband Programme for you

Benefits of the programme

If you’re a Barnet resident living in a council owned property, then you will be able to directly benefit from the Gigabit Broadband programme through access to new affordable and reliable gigabit speed broadband connections as they become available.

We are working with the network operators to remove barriers and attract investment across the borough to get access to quality and affordable digital connections for everyone.

A fast and reliable service

At a time where reliance on digital connectivity is at its greatest, these new connections will give access to faster and more reliable fibre broadband networks, as well as some of the most affordable fibre broadband packages available.

Residents will be able to get online with access to gigabit speeds to meet the current and future requirements of our everyday lives without disconnection or slow internet speeds affecting video calls, day to day business, or access to educational services.

Who will benefit

Council housing tenants and leaseholders will benefit from the commitment to Gigabit Speed Broadband before.

Residents and businesses in Barnet will benefit from national commitments to gigabit speed fibre broadband by 2025. However, if enough interest is expressed by residents to network operators, we expect competition and demand. This will unlock faster investment to serve many streets and neighbourhoods across the borough faster.

Local businesses will be able to develop their online services and e-commerce trade on the back of increasing fibre broadband services becoming available across the borough.

How much it will cost

We know broadband is now an essential service and therefore we want gigabit broadband to be affordable and accessible for as many people as possible.

Home telephone services can be included with a switchover to fibre broadband services.

Council tenants and leaseholders

The new partnerships for services to council housing will only be with reputable broadband network operators who offer a range of services at reasonable prices to all households they serve. It is hoped that such providers will further invest to expand networks beyond the council housing stock.

Such providers tend to offer a lowest priced standard service at around £20-£25 per month. These deliver download and upload speeds that are faster than current ‘superfast’ fibre broadband networks yet are the same cost to existing broadband services. For residents in receipt of benefits, social tariffs will be available.

Affordable deals for those in receipt of benefits

Most broadband networks offer special discounted packages targeted at those in receipt of benefits the following offers have been announced:

Community Fibre are currently serving a number of council homes in Barnet and expanding to all stock by 2023. Services cost from £10 per month for households in receipt of welfare benefits. Please call 0800 082 0770 for details.

Hyperoptic are currently serving a number of new build developments across Barnet. A £15 per month package is available for any households in receipt of welfare benefits.

BT are currently serving every property within Barnet, in June 2021 they launched the ‘BT Home Essentials’ for those in receipt of Universal Credit or receiving income support, supporting access to fibre broadband and home telephone services from £15 per month.

Virgin Media are currently serving a number of homes within Barnet, especially in the East and North of the borough. A £15 per month package for Essential Broadband is available to households in receipt of Universal Credit that are served by Virgin Media. Use the postcode checker to see if you're eligible.

How to deal with slow broadband

We recognise the challenges of slow broadband services and that service quality varies significantly across the borough. We realise that for many households a faster service cannot come soon enough and we hope the following information and tips can help.

Current UK standards

Current UK standards seek for every area to be able to access a download speed of greater than 10MBit per second and an upload speed of 1 Mbit per second.

This is recognised as the universal service obligation, and you can use the Ofcom tool to check your current service speeds

Tips to improve your broadband speed

There are a range of things which can affect the speed of your broadband connection, and we recommend the following three practical tips to improve your connection speeds, as well as Ofcom guidance. Although you can have an extremely fast speed broadband connection to your home, if the wi-fi is poor then you will experience poor performance.

Check the location of your router
Everyday electrical devices, including TVs, speakers and halogen lamps, can cause interference with your router and impact your speeds. Keep your router as far as possible from other electrical devices where possible, as well as those which give out wireless signals, for instance mobile phones. Ideally, place your router centrally within your home.

Check the quality of your router
Slow broadband speeds may not just come from the location of your router, but also from the quality of the router itself. Speak to your Internet Service Provider to understand the capabilities of your current router and discuss different options, or use a comparison tool to look at offers from other providers.

Close background applications
You may have more devices or programmes running than you think, including multiple browser windows or tabs. Devices connected via a cable rather than using wireless can be prioritised by the router, resulting in slower speeds for wireless devices. Shutting down these devices or programmes can be key to free up bandwidth

Try wired rather than wireless connections
Instead of using a WiFi connection, use an ethernet cable to connect your computer into the router, which can give you a faster and more reliable connection.

Tackle phone line interference
Any interference on your phone line could slow your broadband down. Check that the main phone socket is up-to-date and not damaged (your internet provider can arrange a visit to check your internal lines, but will charge a fee if repairs are required). If there is damage to any part of the outside part of the line serving your home, then your internet service provider can test for this and call an engineer to find faults and make repairs.

Register your Interest

Any household wishing to register their interest in gigabit speed broadband services should contact the companies listed who are currently investing in the borough, you can submit your details online via each of their postcode checkers and register your interest.

Companies offering broadband services:

You can help to speed up the rollout of broadband to your street by registering your interest with all network operators, and encouraging your neighbours to do so too.