Q&A Session with Gigaloch
Since announcing the meeting with Gigaloch earlier this week, a large number of residents have already expressed a desire to join the Gigaloch journey to full fibre.
That said, I have also been receiving extreamly good questions from residents before they choose to make the possible switch.
I have put these questions to both Paul and Steve, their responses are below and have also attached a word Q&A document at the bottom of this page.
As always, if you have any questions, please do email me barmm.uk@gmail.com
(Q)This seems a really promising development for which I am more than happy to sign up. I am however concerned about how best to revisit my neighbours who, while content to have their names submitted to get the government voucher, may be less sure about making a commitment to Gigaloch. In order to make the switch from the Openreach Fibre Partnership, for example, would each household have to make a contractual commitment to take Gigaloch and, if so, when this would start? Is there a danger that if some of the local surrounding communities commit to Gigabit, any that don’t would have the chances of Openreach providing a service much reduced?
(A) In simple terms, no. The spine would be installed regardless, and whoever was actively wanting to sign up would have fibre connected directly to the home/business. Any homes or businesses that did not want to take advantage of network, would retain their voucher to use as they see fit. If at any point they changed their mind once the network went live, they would be VERY VERY welcome to join us! In the same way as you would sign up with any suppler, we offer a contract to protect both parties for the supply of our gigbit connection. Each customer gets 12 months absolutely free, NO installation/Connection fees, after that, Gigaloch service contracts are 12 months, but with the ability for you to cancel with just 1 month notice at any time. The contract would start once the network has gone live, however, no charges will be taken until the free 12 months have passed. We have no desire to lock you into a long contract as that is simply not necessary as we provide an exceptional service but the contract is there for your peace of mind. In 2017, the govt declared high speed broadband should be a legal right to everyone in the UK, and aimed to have 97% of the country to a minimum level of 10mbps by 2020. However, BT/Openreach are committed and obligated to reach all parts of the UK with high speed internet. Our building a local network WONT stop them or delay them from coming to mouldsworth/manley/ashton, and if you retain your voucher, it lets them know there are still potential customers available. There is no pressure to sign up to use our network, obviously we would love everyone too! However, it is, as always personal choice.
(Q) I wonder what sort of ISP they are? A quick look around doesn't turn up an ASN for them, or IP address ranges, or peering relationships/exchange memberships, so I'm skeptical that they are actually an ISP unless they do that part under a different name. Are they partnering / outsourcing the ISP part, and if so, with whom? Their own website gigaloch.com has a 1&1 Internet IP address, which is a bit weird for an ISP.
Otherwise,it sounds good, almost too good. I like the branding. Not sure how they get the right-of-way through agricultural land, but I'm no expert. What do you think?’
(A) the answer to this is actually pretty straight forward. At our current size, Gigaloch purchases wholesale transit through a tier 1 provider and therefore does not currently need an ASN. As we grow, this may change as the network matures.
Regarding rights of way, this is by building relationships within the community, such as the one we are developing with yourself. Talking to local people, and explaining what we are trying to do, why we are trying to help the community and finally, with signed way leaves (in the landowners favour) granting permission to cross their land in a manner and direction that suits them. Will fully survey everywhere the cable will be laid, and create detailed maps for the landowners to see exactly where we plan to run the fibre and ducts.
Gigaloch FAQ
.docx
Download DOCX • 103KB
Here is also a quick video highlighting what Gigaloch is all about.