Changing the future of digital connectivity in housing

Historically, telecoms providers have been keen to connect homes which offer the strongest return on investment, but this approach often leaves many homes isolated and unconnected. We are offering a solution that seeks to get everyone connected regardless of their tenure of home while keeping residents safe, reducing digital exclusion, and maximising social value.

We have led and produced a framework approach which includes build standards, commercial terms and service level agreements which, when adopted by social housing landlords, will give peace of mind that the digital infrastructure work carried out in their buildings meets robust safety standards, that their reasonable costs can be recovered, and they are maximising value and readying buildings for the public switched telephone network (PSTN) phase out.

The project has been created in collaboration with the support of digital infrastructure specialists Complete Technology Group (CTG), Clarke Willmott LLP and with the support of other housing associations including Orbit Group, One Housing, and Aster Group.

Elizabeth Connelly, our lead for the Strategic Fibre programme said: “Resident and building safety is the number one priority for all social housing landlords. The Strategic Fibre programme provides an unprecedented opportunity for us all to connect our housing stock to stable high-capacity fibre networks whilst ensuring that we are future-proofing our residents' homes. The framework approach guarantees best practice for both social housing landlords and telecoms providers while ensuring expediency and consistency.

“Developing these productive relationships with our telecoms providers from now will not only address safety concerns but also help drive digital inclusion in the sector, enabling us to provide smarter homes in the future, helping our residents to reduce their energy consumptions and creating new opportunities to provide more sustainable homes.”

“Developed by the sector for the sector with input from infrastructure and telecoms experts, it’s the first framework of its kind for landlords and has the potential to become an industry benchmark, added Kevin Monaghan, Chief Commercial Officer, CTG.

“We know residents need timely access to ultra-fast fibre networks so they can connect with school, work and their community, and live life well. This new framework, based on a consistent and evidence-based methodology, can help landlords and telecom providers do that at pace, to a good quality, and safely.”

Peabody and CTG are now working to get more social housing landlords and telecommunication companies to sign up and adopt the framework approach.