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GreySkyRural Broadband

With Prince Charles entering the debate, everyone seems to be talking about rural broadband (read on BBC website).  And with good reason - it's important and there is something that can be done.

GreySky is based in rural Northumberland; the picture on the right is a view from the office.  But although it may look remote from this angle, we are in a small village - and we get 6.5 Mbps broadband.  Not everyone is so fortunate!

As a part of our support for the economy and businesses in Northumberland, GreySky supports the Northumberland Upwards Leader programme (read more) and that has highlighted the need to improve the broadband services in rural areas.

 

 

Technical Options

Until relatively recently, broadband in rural areas meant satellite, and this is still an option.  Indeed for some of the most remote areas this may continue to be the only really practical option for a while.  But small rural communities have demonstrated that it is possible to take a different approach.  The Cybermoor broadband service in Alston, Cumbria is probably the most famous and successful.

But, more choice means things are getting simpler.  BT has introduced commercial trials of the Broadband Enablement Technology (BET) solutions that mean that broadband (up to 2 Mbps) can be delivered up to 12 km from the exchange - rather than the current 5 km.  This makes a huge difference - many rural exchanges serve many locations more than 5 km away, but extending that to 12 km means that only the most remote remain out of range.

There are also more public sector networks - to schools, village halls, etc.  Fibre connections to deliver internet access to public buildings give the potential to deliver "piggy-back" services for local business and community use - though European law doesn't make this as simple as it might appear from a technical perspective.

 

How Fast?

There are many who are pushing for "fibre to the home" to deliver high speed broadband to everyone.  It's easy to get carried away with this - the more bandwidth that is available, the more we use.  The broadband connection at GreySky's office increased from 2 to 6.5 Mbps a couple of years ago.  It has made little practical difference to most applications - though our voice over internet service does now deliver slightly better quality.  For most businesses, 2 Mbps is enough - for now.  This will change.

The question, perhaps is do we deliver what is currently possible as widely as possible now, and then keep pressing for improvements, or hold out for the very best that future-proof technology can currently offer.  The answer probably comes down to money.

 

Available Funding

DEFRA recently announced £2.6 million of funding to support rural broadband.  However, the Country Land and Business Association cite the need for £30 billion investment to deliver fibre to the door within the next 10 years.  Clearly there is a big gap between available funding and the cost of the preferred solution.

Given the size of the gap, holding out for fibre is probably un-realistic.  In any case, it can be expected to take years to deliver.  And rural businesses need broadband now.  The stimulus to the economy of practical investment now seems to us worthwhile - even if it does become redundant in only a few years.  

 

Community Projects

Delivering broadband technology is only viable where there is demand, and the economic benefit is only achieved where there are the ICT and business skills to use it.  To ensure there is demand, and skills are developed, broadband infrastructure projects need to be delivered as a part of a wider community-led project - delivering service and skills, while promoting demand.

Simply allowing a community-led focus, however, is probably not the full answer.  With limited funding available, a top-level strategic review of priorities, followed by community delivery projects in the priority areas ensures effective delivery and use, while focusing on the areas with most need. 

 

Next Steps

GreySky is currently developing practical approaches to deliver rural broadband - using a range of possible technology solutions to deliver broadband to rural communities now.  We've identified a draft strategic over-view for Northumberland and are now developing community projects for the individual delivery areas.  We hope to work with the regional development agencies, DEFRA and others to deliver the most effective and practical options available, following a number of key stages: