🏭 The Business
A precision engineering manufacturer based on an industrial estate near Cannock, Staffordshire. 85 employees, operating three shifts. The business runs CNC machinery with cloud-based programming software, uses VoIP for all communications, and relies on cloud ERP for production scheduling and customer orders.
⚠️ The Problem: Unreliable FTTC on an Industrial Estate
Industrial and business parks built in the 1980s–2000s are notoriously poorly served by FTTC broadband. The Cannock site had a 'up to 80Mbps' FTTC line that delivered a peak of 34Mbps during quiet periods and regularly dropped to under 10Mbps during business hours. Worse: the line dropped completely an average of 1.8 times per month.
Each outage caused: VoIP phones going dead (the company's ISDN backup had already been removed), cloud CNC software losing connection mid-job, and production scheduling inaccessible. Management estimated each outage cost £3,200 in lost production, machine idle time and rescheduling.
| Metric | Before Upgrade |
|---|---|
| Connection type | FTTC (copper to cabinet) |
| Contracted speed | 80Mbps down / 20Mbps up |
| Actual peak speed | 34Mbps down / 8Mbps up |
| Business hours speed | 8–18Mbps down / 3–6Mbps up |
| Outages per month | 1.8 average |
| Cost per outage | ~£3,200 (management estimate) |
| Annual downtime cost | ~£70,000 |
🔍 Site Survey and Options Assessed
Telexico surveyed the site and checked infrastructure availability. Findings:
- Openreach had Full Fibre (FTTP) available to the industrial estate — but the existing duct from the cabinet to the building was shared with several other units and BT's cabinet equipment was at capacity.
- CityFibre had no planned rollout for this postcode within 18 months.
- A leased line was quoted at £680/month — significantly more expensive than the FTTP alternative.
- Starlink Business had clear sky access from the roof — viable as a failover.
Recommendation: Openreach FTTP at 1Gbps (£89/month), with a Starlink Business installation (£140/month hardware amortised + subscription) as an automatic failover managed by Telexico's Assure-X controller.
📅 Installation Timeline
| Phase | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Openreach survey and order | Week 1 | Clean survey — no wayleave needed |
| Openreach installation | Weeks 4–6 | Engineer ran new duct to building |
| Starlink dish installation | Week 5 | Roof mount, 2-hour install |
| Assure-X failover config | Week 6 | Automatic switchover configured |
| Go-live and testing | Week 7 | Parallel run with old FTTC for 5 days |
| Old FTTC ceased | Week 8 | FTTC contract cancelled |
✅ Results: 6 Months Post-Installation
| Metric | Before | After (6 months) |
|---|---|---|
| Connection type | FTTC | FTTP 1Gbps + Starlink failover |
| Business hours speed | 8–18Mbps | 940Mbps+ consistently |
| Upload speed | 3–6Mbps | 110Mbps (FTTP) / 40Mbps (Starlink) |
| Outages (main line) | 1.8/month | 0 |
| Failover activations | N/A | 2 (Openreach maintenance windows) |
| Failover downtime | N/A | 0 — automatic switchover |
| Monthly broadband cost | £65 (FTTC) | £210 (FTTP + Starlink) |
| Estimated annual saving | — | £65,000 (downtime eliminated) |
The net saving — downtime cost eliminated minus increased broadband cost — is approximately £63,600 per year. The payback period on the Starlink hardware investment (£750) was under 2 weeks.
Is your business on an industrial estate with poor broadband? Telexico surveys and upgrades connectivity for manufacturing and industrial sites across the Midlands.
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