[UK]Rural non-profit broadband

Xian

The town that turned off BT
The residents of one Yorkshire town got so fed up with being passed over for broadband access that they set up Britain's first ISP cooperative

There are some local ISPs around Britain already, but this co-op version, funded almost entirely without government money, could threaten the very core of BT's future communications business and provide a shining light for like-minded people throughout the country.

The difference between Hebden Bridge's co-op and other local ISPs is that it will provide an even cheaper broadband service, in addition to locally generated news and information. And with a newly installed wireless system, this West Yorkshire community could ultimately bypass the traditional phone system entirely, allowing villagers to phone each other without using the BT network at all. And it's all done on a non-profit basis so that the savings for the co-op members are as high as possible.

It was just a year ago that the wheels were inadvertently set in motion for the co-op ISP to become reality. A number of people were eager to sign up for broadband, but were prevented by BT, which only upgrades local telephone exchanges if take-up of the service can be guaranteed. In the case of Hebden Bridge that meant 500 connections, which for a small rural community is too high.

The group lobbied hard but admit they were surprised when in May BT lowered the upgrade trigger to 300 connections. "Our jaws dropped slightly when we realised that the pressure we had put on BT had worked," says Harrison. This meant that broadband was now available to all 10,000 phone lines in the Hebden Bridge area.

However, the action group felt this victory was not enough. Instead of disbanding, they decided to go a step further and take control of their own broadband, and Britain's first cooperative ISP was born.

The project was set up using an initial £70 from co-op shares (£1 per member), a £600 grant from the town council, a donation of £5,000-worth of broadband and wireless equipment from the technology supplier MyZones and lots of help from Harrison and others, the latter estimated to be worth as much as £40,000.

Now, seven months after the creation of 3-C (Calder Connect Co-operative), it is providing service to 80 members in Hebden Bridge for £15 to £20 a month, depending on whether members want a fixed-line connection or a (cheaper) wireless connection to broadband.

See also 3-c's faq

Exmoor Village Gains 2Mbps BB
The not-for-profit wireless supplier, Broadband Business Ltd., has announced the introduction of a hi-speed synchronous (same speed both ways) 2Mbps wireless service for the area:

Luxborough, a tiny village with fewer than 100 homes and businesses, will go live with 2Mbit synchronous broadband by the end of February. Broadband Business Ltd, a not-for-profit wireless supplier, is utilising existing masts to bring this remarkable advance to this remote location.

"This will revolutionise life for businesses and home-workers and bring great opportunities for the village children and the many retired people in Luxborough," said Colin Balkham, director of a software house based in the village and co-ordinator of the Broadband4Exmoor campaign website (www.broadband4exmoor.org.uk). "The service is infinitely superior to BT's ADSL offering - and we're too far from the exchange for ADSL to be a possibility."

The first site in the village goes live during February and it is hoped that the service can be brought to to as many of the businesses and homes in the village as wish to use it - a Luxborough Community Broadband Association is planned. The service joins the national broadband backbone via the existing mast at Lype Hill and is transmitted to a defunct television aerial which used to serve the hamlet at the top of the hill. A fibre optic cable is being laid to Project Computers' premises and from there it will be transmitted via wireless to the rest of the village.

byte

I guess something like that would be the only way to get broadband where I live though I guess ya need a broadband backbone to connect to in the first place so I'm screwed :dunno:

Ryaner

Pity we cant do something like that over here. Something that good and that cheap would really get Eircom to listen.