Dark Fibre
An exclusive offer for Peterborough Schools:
Dark Fibre by Schools Broadband
Welcome to Schools Broadband
Schools Broadband is thrilled to announce an exclusive upgrade offer for Peterborough schools, delivering faster, more reliable connectivity at exceptional value. Through our partnership with Peterborough Council, we are now able to offer significantly increased speeds – up to 10Gbps – while ensuring your school remains fully safeguarded and secure. Plus, if you introduce us to another school that signs up, we’re offering credit of £1,000 or £500 each!
Join the Webinar
11:00am Wednesday 2nd April
Schools Broadband CEO David Tindall will be hosting a webinar to welcome you to the Schools Broadband family and answer any questions you may have about this fantastic opportunity to upgrade your school connectivity, safeguarding and security services.
Please join us by clicking the link below to register your place:
What is Dark Fibre?
Dark Fibre is a high-performance fibre-optic network that offers unrestricted, scalable speeds and superior reliability compared to traditional broadband services. Unlike FTTP (Fibre to the Premises), which shares bandwidth with other customers at the local distribution point, Dark Fibre provides a dedicated connection – ensuring consistent speeds.
Key differences between Dark Fibre and FTTP:
- Uncontended Bandwidth: FTTP connections are shared with multiple customers, whilst Dark Fibre provides dedicated bandwidth, ensuring consistent performance.
- Symmetrical Speeds: Many FTTP connections offer lower upload speeds (e.g., 1000Mbps download vs. 115Mbps upload). Dark Fibre delivers equal upload and download speeds—up to 10Gbps today and scalable to 100Gbps in the future.
- Faster Fault Resolution: FTTP connections typically have 48-hour fix targets, while Dark Fibre benefits from a higher service level agreement (SLA) meaning faults are targeted for resolution within 8 hours, 24/7/365.
FAQ
We understand that switching or upgrading your school’s broadband service is a big decision, and you may have some questions. Below, we’ve compiled answers to the most commonly asked questions about our Peterborough Schools Broadband service, including key benefits, contract details, and technical specifications.
If you have any other questions or would like to discuss your school’s specific needs, please get in touch – our team will be happy to help.
Yes. Both Schools Broadband and Peterborough Council are committed to providing schools with the best possible internet connectivity at the most competitive price. This exclusive offer ensures that schools receive exceptional value without compromising on performance or reliability.
Yes. The service is backed by a Leased Line SLA, meaning faults are targeted for resolution within 8 hours, 24/7/365.
Unlike FTTP (Fibre to the Premises), which shares bandwidth between multiple users and has slower upload speeds, Dark Fibre provides a dedicated, uncontended connection with equal upload and download speeds—up to 10Gbps today and scalable to 100Gbps in the future.
Other key differences:
- Reliability – Dark Fibre comes with a superior SLA, while FTTP has a standard 48-hour fix time (excluding weekends).
- Speed & Performance – FTTP connections can be impacted by congestion at the local distribution point, whereas Dark Fibre provides dedicated bandwidth with no slowdowns.
- Advanced Security & Filtering – Our award-winning Fortinet firewall and Netsweeper web filtering ensure schools remain secure and compliant with the latest e-safety and safeguarding standards.
- Anti-DDoS Protection – Included as standard, protecting your school from cyber threats and preventing service disruptions. This solution is already used by over 3,000 schools without a single school experiencing downtime due to a DDoS attack.
- Future-Proof Connectivity – Scalable speeds to support evolving technology and educational needs.
To secure the best value, Peterborough Council has agreed on a 48-month term, payable annually in advance, starting from your renewal date in October.
Yes. As part of the upgrade, you will receive a new router. If you opt for our security and content filtering packages, minor configuration changes will be required, along with a few hours of IT support time to install software and an SSL certificate for decryption.
We have migrated thousands of schools to this solution with minimal disruption, and migrations will be pre-planned at a time that suits you.
Yes. If your other schools use our connectivity, we can link them together to create a private Wide Area Network (WAN) at no extra cost. Even if some schools use a different provider, we can still link them via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) alongside our security services.
We have migrated thousands of schools to this solution with minimal disruption, and migrations will be pre-planned at a time that suits you.
Yes, subject to financial approval. Your IT provider can purchase the service directly from us and manage billing and first-line support on your behalf. Many schools prefer this single point of contact for both IT and internet services. If this is of interest, ask your MSP/IT support provider to contact us directly.
Yes. As part of our agreement with E2BN, all of your existing external IP addresses will remain unchanged.
We encourage schools to sign as soon as possible to help us plan network capacity and migration timelines.
If no action is taken and your school is within 90 days of the end of your current contract, you will automatically be enrolled into a new 48-month term under the new pricing.
If you do not wish to proceed, please inform us at least 90 days before your renewal date by emailing stephanie.walls@talk-straight.com.
If you’re interested in this exclusive offer or if you’d just like to talk it through, please fill in the form below for a call back from your dedicated account manager Stephanie Walls: