Which is why is important that you order your fibre as soon as it is available!
As you know, full fibre broadband is advancing at speed across the island! If you are a Tiree Broadband Subscriber, we wanted to explain what happens next.
The first thing you should know is that once fibre is available across the island, Tiree Broadband intends to begin the process of closing down.
Because of that, it’s important that you order your fibre as soon as it is available. It doesn’t happen automatically!
There will be an Openreach team in Tiree for 7 weeks from the start of July with the sole aim of fulfilling orders.
Here are the steps:
If you have not already, sign up to the Openreach Fibre Checker. It may tell you that fibre is NOT available right now and that there are no plans for your area – that is because Openreach have not updated the website. Ignore it.
- Once the fibre reaches you, a black box will be put in the ground outside your property.
- Shortly after (assuming you have signed up to the checker), you should receive an email from Openreach telling you that broadband is available to order. If you don’t get an email, it is worth checking the Openreach Fibre Checker again to see if it is ready to order.
- If broadband is ready to order, you can place an order with any of the available suppliers – such as BT, Sky, Plusnet, EE, Zen, Co-Op etc. We’re afraid that we can’t recommend a supplier.
- Openreach may come and do a site survey and agree the best cable route from the black box to your house with you.
- An Openreach team will come and install the cable from the black box to the outside of your house.
- Another team will then come on your going live date and bring the fibre into your house and connect your broadband service.
Once that is done, and the new fibre broadband is working, you can cancel your Tiree Broadband account by emailing broadband@tireetrust.org.uk. We will visit when it is practical and remove your Tiree Broadband equipment from the wall.
We have been delighted to have you as a subscriber and want to thank you for your support over the years. We have compiled some FAQs below – please get in touch if you have any other questions!
Best wishes
Bann-leathann
FAQs
Are you stopping immediately?
No. We will make sure that all properties that we serve are able to order fibre before we close. The exact date depends on the Openreach rollout, but our current estimate is that we will close the Tiree Broadband service in late spring 2026.
I like Tiree Broadband. Why can’t you keep going?
Most people need more bandwidth than we can offer. Fibre makes sense for them!
With people moving to fibre, we will have much less income, making it unviable to continue to run and, crucially, maintain the network.
But what if the fibre goes down? Can’t you be a backup?
If Tiree Broadband continued, it would be running on the same fibre connection as everyone else. If that connection goes down, everything goes down.
Should I stay with Tiree Broadband until it closes?
No. Openreach have committed a significant number of teams to full fibre broadband installation in Tiree this year. This means that they can complete installations reasonably quickly in most cases. Once these teams leave it is likely that installation waits will be significantly longer and appointments much less certain.
What about my tireebroadband.com email address?
One option is to move a new email address, such as Gmail or Outlook. We will happily forward your tireebroadband.com email to the new address for 12 months.
However, we know that people like their tireebroadband.com email addresses, so we intend to pass the email service to a third party to manage. If you keep the email address, we estimate that it will cost you around £30 per email address per year.
When your fibre goes live and you leave Tiree Broadband, your email address will remain active, so don’t worry about losing email!
Can I still contact you about internet problems?
The short answer is no. Neither Tiree Broadband nor the Trust will be able to help you if you have issues with the fibre. You will need to contact your supplier. The new provider will be able to help with email issues for tireebroadband.com addresses.
Which provider should I choose for my fibre broadband?
We can’t recommend any one provider. The best for you will depend on your circumstances, but here are a few things worth considering:
- The existing phone service using the copper wires will be switched off soon and all phone services will be via your broadband. Not all broadband providers offer phone, so if having a ‘landline’ is important to you check before you sign up.
- If you already buy services like TV or mobile phones from a supplier, they can often do good deals on broadband in a combined contract.
- Do you claim Universal Credit, Pension Credit or equivalent benefits? You may be eligible for ‘social tariffs’ from some providers.
- Most of the best prices are for 2-year contracts. Be aware that many contracts have a price increase every April.
What speed should choose?
It really depends on how many people and devices you have in your household and how much you use those devices. Just for context your Tiree Broadband service download speed is capped at 10Mbps. Pretty much the ‘slowest’ full fibre service that you can buy is capped at 74Mbps download speed so even this will be 7 times faster than your Tiree Broadband connection. It’s worth noting that most providers generally don’t charge significantly more for faster packages than more basic ones.
Are you going to change your mind?
No, we’re not – so please do go ahead and order your fibre when it’s available!
