Why your community needs more than superfast

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Read more! As I am still trying to assimilate all I saw, heard and discussed in USA, plus the many thoughts that have come from the Digital Agenda Assembly this last week in Brussels, I have decided to write about practical uses of a decent connection. As ever, this has been prompted by something fairly unrelated - the local weekly newspaper for this area. So, here is my free fall through the weekly paper with a true broadband spin.
This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com

Front page - death of a local man in an accident. Reminds me about a story I read in the US press about funeral homes and undertakers now offering a streaming service so remote mourners can attend and take part in the funeral e.g. with a reading from a family member in Australia. It would need to be a very robust connection, unlike much of the flaky DSL and asymmetric options currently on offer in the UK.
Visit by Olympic torch - recently I tweeted about tourist boards needing to produce wifi maps for visitors now access to the Net whilst on holiday or travelling for meetings etc is so important. Not only mapping wifi but there should be more tourist webcams so people can take part in such events fom afar. These could also double up as the CCTV and security systems for town centres and tourist honeypots. Ooh, dual purpose, hence good value, is that allowed?!
Carer steals from elderly lady. This is easy. Camera mounted on lapel of carer that sends video and audio stream to all those involved with the care of the individual. For instance, this could go to any doctor or consultant, the care company, relatives who want to check on the wellbeing of the patient, and so on. Medical advice, or even basic treament, could be given directly into the home via the carer who can beam in the consultant using the video device. The logical expansion to this is the telehealth app I saw in development in partnership with the Mayo Clinic but more on that another day.
Rush hour chaos - traffic cams would be so simple to set up for public log in as well as monitoring the state of the roads by Highways Agency, police etc. Why are the cameras currently monitoring roads unavailable to the general public?
Local sports centre loses money and must develop joint working initiatives with neighbouring councils. The Nuenen example should crop up here where their sports centre is fibred straight into the local doctors as well as certain departments in the hospital. So, for instance, the cardiology department receives all heart data from patients who have been advised to exercise for prevention as well as cure, and video cameras allow the physiotherapists to check in on and remotely instruct patients who are exercising in addition to receiving physio in hospital.
City councillors expenses turnaround to prevent councillors who are University students (the mind boggles) being able to claim expenses for travelling from outside the district to attend meetings, particularly during the summer hols. Um, video conferencing?
Bus timetables having to be re-introduced because of complaints at the withdrawal of the paper version. In an attempt to save money, the Council have angered bus users, particularly older people, by saying send a text, ring this premium rate number or log on to find bus times. Interestingly, according to the article a bus timetable costs £2500 per bus stop if 4000 timetables costs the council £100k. If I were a ratepayer I would query whether these are gold plated timetables, or ask whether £2500 could be better spent on newer technology than plastic and paper. Imagine if you ran fibre to each of these 4000 bus stops (as part of your county-wide network obviously) and then it would be a simple matter to put a webcam and a touch screen to provide info, as well as a ticker like the Dutch bus stops which tell you when the next bus is due so you can go for a coffee at the nearby cafe, or walk to the next stop. A bus stop would also seem to be a very handy place to stick a wifi access point and antenna to create a substantial proportion of a wireless cloud at the same time.
£4M to be spent on a temporary medical unit to house beds and an assessment unit to decide if patients need to be admitted. This solution will be in place for 1-2 years and the unit is merely being rented so is not an asset owned by the health service. One of the reasons for this new unit is to overcome a problem caused by the distance between facilities within the hospital which means diagnostis can take a long time. High quality video links plus connected devices eg stethoscopes, heart monitors, etc etc were all part of one of the telehealth apps I saw in the USA so this is now all possible, with more and more devices becoming connectable precisely to permit this type of time and cost saving in larger hospitals and remote areas.
Housing association advert for the elderly - full list of benefits, no mention of broadband. Looking at the website, the alarm/secuirty system is a primitive one using that ancient device called a telephone. Add fibre into the property and suddenly your elderly accommodation will set itself apart from the rest with the services it can offer - health, safety, security, communication options, leisure choices etc.
Ah, news from the villages. Plenty of scope here to use fibre. Churches should be streaming christenings, funerals, services etc etc. Illustrated talks, open gardens, sports matches, kitchen garden talks, village fairs (including welly wanging!), civic parades, WI meetings, orchestras, choirs, fundraising events, quizzes, gun clubs, pothole watch, jumble sales, etc - all could benefit with an intake of fibre connectivity and online activity.
Then we have a story about a new design and print company, but no mention of 3D printing which is going to revolutionise living and working in rural areas. Not only in increased efficiencies and productivity but also in economic and environmental terms when travel is reduced to find that spare part for an ailing tractor, for example. The blueprints required for many engineering parts will need to be high definition and will need to be downloaded and uploaded, so symmetry will be essential for 3D printing's full advantages to be explored. However, even emailing a large file to a print and design company can be a nightmare for many, even in this day and age. Easier to get in the car.....
There's more as well that could do with a touch of true broadband, but I'm sure you get the picture. Many of our communities, particularly rural ones, are facing tough times, and lack of connectivity is definitely high on the list of priorities to be sorted out. However, unless we start to realise just how many places in our lives the level of connectivity heralded by at least two zeros ie 100+MBps symmetrical will affect, we are going to continue setting the bar far too low. And we will be left behind, our communities will continue running on 1 pot instead of 4, and we will continue to exclude far too many from contributing to community life and hence the social and economic well being of this country will continue to suffer. Read more!

Wow, we are sooo far behind

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Read more! I went to the USA because I knew there were things happening in the States that the UK and EU needed to be aware of. What I had not realised was a) how little the information sharing is happening between States let alone US and the Rest of the World and b) how far ahead some networks are, especially rural community driven projects. And the winners? No stimulus funding. Overlooked by the equivalent of BDUK, the best projects have JFDI without federal or state interventio, or with full co-operation of the City Fathers and community but little ouside money. Take note.
This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com

Before I set off for the Broadband Communities Summit in Dallas back in April, I had already made contact with many broadband networks in the USA over the previous decade. Two years ago, I was lucky enough to visit UTOPIA, and for all the bad press you may have seen, you can only know what is actually occurring by going to see for yourself and meeting Todd and his team. I had been to Lafayette, and I had been lucky enough, back in 2004, to be a guest and speaker at Dave Isenberg's WTF prototype of Freedom to Connect F2C, which I was also lucky enough to attend a month ago in Washington DC. However, I could have had no idea when I left these shores just how many fibre networks I would be fortunate enough to visit in 7 weeks travelling around 16 States. I have been incredibly privileged in being welcomed into networks from north to south, large and small, new and established, shown into more central offices and head ends than I could ever have imagined, seen behind the scenes, shared business plans and brainstormed the future developments, as well as meeting many consumers, businesses and public sector bodies who benefit from the existence of the fibre networks that have been built on their doorsteps. Even when those doorsteps can be 600+ miles wide and 300 miles deep! I am just acclimatising to Brtish Summer Time, and accompanying weather, so please bear with me if blog posts are sporadic and disjointed for now, as I am dragged around to be quizzed about what I found. I feel I should share some of it more publicly so the JFDIUSA 2012 book will be out shortly and will cover many of the discoveries that I was fortunate enough to be permitted access to and can share. Many thanks to the sponsors who made JFDIUSA possible: Broadband Properties, Gigaclear, Calix, Jaguar Communications, Abacus Marketing, ECFiber, and my uber tolerant friends and family. Read more!

broadband networks play the incumbents at the contract game

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Read more! One of the ways in which the incumbents endeavour to beat new entrants, including community networks, is with predatory pricing. Special offes etc lure the unaware into deals with the incumbents whenever a new provider pops their head over the parapet. But there is a great solution to this I discovered in USA on my trip....
This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com

It is so beautifully simple and is unmatchable by the incumbents, especially in cases of networks such as B4RN.org.uk who are offering a service that the incumbent simply cannot match because of the continued BT failure to build out FTTH. Whenever a new potential customer has been tempted by the incumbent fliers on their doorstep, offer to match the incumbent or other ISP pricing throughout the contract term the incumbent is proposing. So, if BT offer a 25Mbps service for a fraction of the price (difficult with B4RN but easier in the standard tariff range for the other ISPs), you offer to price match the incumbent all the way through that contract period. So, if BT are offering to undercut all the competition (usually only for 3-6 months and then the small print gets smaller), offer your new customers the exact same contract. You should point out that over the contractual period it will cost the customer far more but point out it is entirely their choice to have the same contract. And you may choose to mention that there is no need to phone India every time someething is wwrong with their phone or Internet. At the end of the 18 or 24 month period, offer them the choice again to go back to your offer and point out that had they gone with that in the first place, it would have saved xyz squids for the exact same connection package, but now they can have 1Gbps and local service instead.... and spend the cash that stays in their pockets as they choose. Simples. Read more!

JFDI USA Update

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Read more! Been here two weeks tomorrow and I think I have more to say than time to write, but here goes....
This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com

Today has been one of those days where certain thoughts distil themselves clearly. So, I have tonight, after cleaning the boat (including the head), sat in on an EC Fiber Exec Committee meeting, held over the phone. Having been party to many of this type of community broadband governance calls/meetings previously, but never as an observer to such an extent, certain parallels begin to emerge. In my simplistic way, I am going to try to categorise them. My thoughts obviously will include much I have heard over the previous 17 years or more, as well as that heard most recently in Dallas, TX, Lafayette and New Orleans, LA, and here in Vermont, as well as during my journeys since leaving UK. Tomorrow, I am going to Massachusetts (I think this will be state 6 on my trip) for a community broadband meeting, and then on Wednesday I set sail south again, so I will endeavour to complete this series of blog posts whilst the thoughts, opinions, ideas etc are still fresh. That may need to be tonight with all that is planned in the coming hours, days and weeks! This will be an Alphabet Soup Post and this is the intro. For the sake of future searches, I am going to give each letter its own post. If you remind me, at the end, I will put the whole lot into a book available on Lulu.com for you to buy to fund further mileage.......! Or you could just sponsor me through my Paypal account to maximise what I can learn on this trip on your behalf. I've already blown my kids' inheritance, made myself and them homeless, and am living on broken shoestrings to do this so what's a tenner out of your pocket to stretch this trip out a wee while longer?!! Let me know if you fancy a punt. Read more!

Does the UK need a CTO?

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Read more! During this visit, one name keeps cropping up - Todd Park. Who is he? He is the US Department of Health and Human Services CTO. He was here in Lafayette at Cajun Code Fest this weekend, one of a large number of codathons currently running across the States. He, and rightly so, fully enjoyed the Cajun Code Fest, partly because it was aimed at getting coders together to solve a now near global health problem - childhood obesity. And partly because this is Lafayette and the Lafayette/Geoff Daily way of doing this type of event is quite simply fabulous. He was joined by the likes of the CEO of Priceline.com, top health executives from within Microsoft (developers of Health Vault) and other enormous companies, and the winning apps, as you will see will undoubtedly make their way into mainstream adoption. Todd made an interesting observation - Lafayette is small enough (population 120k =tiny in US!) to behave in the same entrepreneurial, flexible, agile manner as a start up, but large enough that anything achieved here can be of national importance. It strikes me that this thinking applies equally in the UK, for instance in communities such as B4RN, and that some community broadband and technologically aware communities may be missing a trick here - more on that in another post as it was a subject of some fascinating debate and ideas in Dallas at #bbcsum12 and I am still getting my head around a proposal from that to bring back to the UK. Back to Todd - his remit is within the Department of Health, and looking at his bio it is quite obvious why this entrepreneur with a background in health related businesses would be chosen. It set me to wondering what the UK requires in the form of a CTO. After all, even from this side of the Pond it has been near impossible to miss the furore about the Minister ostensibly in charge of broadband, Jeremy Hunt, which of course comes from the DCMS having far too wide a remit to focus on technology, and being in charge of Culture, Media and Sport - all so distantly related that the weekly emails from the DCMS range across a vast array of 'disassociated' topics. Also, a CTO needs to be fully cognisant of his role in the economic well-being of the company -it's all very well saying, "No-one got fired for not buying IBM (pick any well known tech co and replace)" but the truth is if you adopt enterprise level equipment when there is a superior and free open source alternative that your competitors all use....well, we know how it ends don't we? The necessity for experience within a commercial environment is essential, although one wonders how many of those in charge of making fiscal decisions within government even have that experience? (Being a paid member of a Board does not count; having lost your shirt and learnt how not to do it again does). So, should we have a CTO of each of our departments, agencies and the assortment of quangos in charge of our daily lives? I feel not as it only adds complexity, bureaucracy and a lack of appreciation of the big picture, but others may differ in their opinions. I do feel the UK urgently needs a CTO - please, not with the title of technology tsar -someone who behaves as though she/he has precisely the same responsibilities as the CTO of any company - to get maximum bang for the buck, best return on investment, improve efficiency, use the right technology for each job, aggregate demand, save our money, encourage innovation etc so that our company -UK Plc - becomes a world leader in technology. Not to win votes, but because this country MUST seek to be competitive or, as Blair Levin put it so succinctly at the Dallas Broadband Community Summit last week, we will join the US in being on the wrong side of economic history. (He was actually speaking about having a strategy for bandwidth abundance, but without said strategy, most of the required technological advances will fail either at the first hurdle -research - or any of those following: development, deployment, adoption, sales etc. Britain has a dreadful reputation for IT projects. Take, for example, NHSIT (affectionately known by the cognoscenti as NHsh*t). An appalling waste of money that demands (one would think) a comprehensive review of how the UK approaches techie projects forever more. However, we keep doing it. I have spoken to people about BTOP last week and this. It is a similar program to Race Online 2012 and UK Online, and it sounds as though many of the same lessons have been learned on both sides of the Pond by those involved at the coal front, but few if any feel that those lessons have successfully been reported 'upwards' to policy makers and funders to ensure that similar mistakes are not made again. And whilst Helen and Martha may both feel that their campaigns/projects have been successful, sadly, they are missing the point of where the race actually needs to get to, and hence what is required to do so. This is not in providing cheap computers, courses in surfing, or access in learning centres, but in training everyone, and I mean everyone, so that the skillset required over the next 10-15 years in order to have a booming digital economy is present through out our society. And being able to surf just ain't it. That is setting the bar so low as to be almost derisory to the general public who will need the skills to survive the changes we have been given a glimpse of with the developments of the past decade. Here is where a CTO could come in most handy - in assessing the skills which will be required to drive UK PLC into a competitive position and ensuring that every single program, campaign, university course etc is designed to do precisely that. UK Online would have failed the acid test, and as one who has had to deliver their courses to many, I could tell them precisely why, how, when (now), etc as could many of the others who have actually met the people coming through the doors of Online Centrres such as Cyberbarn whilst being an active part of both the local, regional, national and global community and economy. Being a successful digital economy does not mean that more people buy online, or download premium content. And it should be the task of a CTO to not let sales or shareholders lead the decisions in all other departments eg training, accounts, R&D etc. We have managed to trash the vast majority of our manufacturing sector through some spectacularly poor policy over the years, and it is time for the Board in Westminster to find an advisor to prevent such happening again. The Industrial Revolution (during which we were quite successful as a nation) did not have the advantages of the communications we do now. Once again, a CTO would come in useful in understanding how all the different areas of our plant could be working together, sharing technological advances, cutting costs etc and communicating those to the appropriate parties for nationwide success. It's fairly clear that we have developed an island mentality to such an extent that we think there is not much to learn from beyond our shores, but as a frequent traveller, I can only disagree with that notion. Which is why one of my souvenirs from USA is the idea of a national CTO. Your thoughts? Read more!

USA Roadtrip - Part 1

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Read more! In case you are not aware, I am currently enjoying week 1 of a visit to the USA. Since Monday I have been in Dallas at the Broadband Communities Summit, and it has been quite some week so far! Aside from meeting many old friends, being a speaker also gives you the opportunity to meet yet more people. I am no longer a shy networker, especially when community broadband in the UK can benefit from the contacts made on such visits. Whether it is the chance to hear first hand about alternative and successful business models, discuss regulatory similarities and differences, rant with like-minded people about poor policy decisions and funding, or to find new innovations, tools and equipment, these visits are always fruitful. The sessions at this event, particularly on Tuesday, were full on. My notes are plentiful, my pockets are overflowing with business cards, and my trip has already been extended at least one more week and two more States. I doubt I will get to visit all 52 but I'm now up to 11 over the next few weeks and that's before we sail down the East Coast!! The great and the good of the broadband world are here - I know I will miss a few out but ...Dave Isenberg, Jim Baller, Tim and Leslie Nulty, Todd Marriott, Donny Smith, Blair Levin, Gary Evans, Christopher Mitchell, and Craig Settles (here via Twitter as he had to cancel last minute). And I now have about 20 more to add to my list. I am no longer surprised when I hear the US is suffering many of the same issues as the UK and EU - politicians and regulators seem to be as short sighted and deaf to grassroots' logic and needs the world over - but I am pleased to report that the ratio of talkers vs the number of doers seems to be slowly heading in the right direction. There is one helluva lot of JFDI going on these days!! We could easily have doubled the number of speakers on our panel -DIY Community Fibre solutions. It was a great session and people did not leave their seats at the end until way beyond the scheduled finish. Once again, I am glad I smoke. I've met some of the most incredible people outside since Monday evening, and my itinerary and knowledge keep growing because of them. It's a full day of sessions again tomorrow so I quite simply have not found time to write up my notes or even to ponder much of what I have learned, but I will distil a few thoughts over the coming weeks. The best bit so far? I learned tonight, whilst outside, that the B4RN dig video has gone viral in our little world. Lancashire is suddenly famous and that feels well-deserved. (And something BT can only dream of achieving). The worst bit? Jet lag. Yuck. Next stop - Lafayette, LA (my very own state!) to visit LusFiber, eat as much gumbo as possible, and enjoy the Festival Internationale, as well as meet the Mayor, Joey Durel, and hopefully have a lengthy chat with Sue Spradley to find out much more about US Ignite..... More news and views shortly. Big thank you again to Gigaclear, BBC Mag, Jaguar, ECFiber, Abacus and a few private individuals who have made all of this possible. Oh and the girls, whose good-natured tolerance of their unconventional mother deserves a mention!! Read more!

Service will resume shortly...from USA

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Read more! The many hats I wear (cyberbarn, 5tth, cybersavvy, digitaldales, b4rn etc) have decided to leave Cumbria and go walkabout and will be coming to you from o'er t'Pond shortly.

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com


More details to follow, but for those who want to hear more about gigabit broadband, smart cities and towns, rural innovation, how fat pipes affect Internet marketing, business and commerce, as well as mobile/wireless and socio-economic progress once you have summat approaching true broadband, and just possibly a few posts that endeavour to join dots across many interests to hopefully reveal bigger pictures, feel free to stay tuned over the coming weeks.

You can even throw a few pounds into my Escape Fund to ensure I don't need to write about soup kitchens too! Every little helps as once again I am travelling at my own expense on a broken shoestring to bring you the latest broadband news, commentary and interviews. All in my own inimitable style, of course.

Donate via PayPal to ldotannisonatgmaildotcom or contact me about sponsorship opportunities. Blank cheques also welcome! #jk


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All change at Rutland Telecom

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Read more! Rutland Telecom is going from strength to strength, and there are plenty of new faces helping to move the company forwards now. The reason for this post is to put paid to any rumours to the contrary!
This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



I interviewed David Lewis of Rutland Telecom back in July 2009. Since then Rutland has delivered the first rural FTTC, started to deliver full FTTH into those areas the major telcos have said is economically 'impossible', and found investment from Gigaclear.

David has however handed over the Managing Director reins to Christer Karlsson so that David can start a new consultancy business, Broadband Consultancy Ltd.

There are also new members joining the team in the forthcoming weeks, and it is great to know that at least two females will be heading up departments in what has traditionally been a male-dominated world.

A quick chat with Matthew Hare, CEO of Gigaclear, revealed that Rutland have managed to reduce the dig costs by half, that the new drop architecture design that Rutland are using now only needs a one man install team (as compared to BT's 4), and that all fibre laid by Rutland from now on will be direct bury.

So, that's that sorted then! Carry on.....
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Outside In is Essential

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Read more! Even in 2012, we continue to see half-hearted attempts by local authorities, government and telcos in addressing the rural broadband problem and the deprivation it continues to inflict. Even comprehending the issues the lack of connectivity is causing, let alone the solutions, appears to be beyond the wit of man if you believe some of the latest thinking coming out of local and central govt.

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com


I've just returned fom a drive along the Mallerstang Valley where not a single property has anything approaching broadband, despite NWDA wasting £60k on a non-functional wireless solution (on top of the abject failure that was Project Access) to try to live by the spin that Project Access actually achieved *anything*.

I know that particular road well - my parents live and work at the other end of it. I know where mobile coverage starts and ends to the foot, and I know the plight of the Parish Council during the last 8+ years in trying to get BASIC communications into that population. And not just the permanent population but also the transitory one who pass through in ever-growing numbers along the Settle Carlisle railway.

For railway buffs, not only is Outhgill graveyard a striking and heart rending reminder of those who lost their lives building a railway through this deeply inhospitable landscape, but near the Moorcock Inn an entire train is buried after one of three horrendous crashes on this section of railway line. (See this S and C Tribute for more info). As I (and many others such as Libby Bateman, our local Digital Hero) have previously said, if back in 1867 they could build an entire railway, with mind-blowing viaducts and bridges, surely we can lay some 9 or 14mm fibre??

I proposed a solution at least 6 years ago to solve the Garsdale and Mallerstang problem, which revolved around the railway and the GX fibre plus wireless where the fibre dig was going to be prohibitively expensive - a few homes up Grisedale and a couple hidden from a wireless signal. As ever, the workable solution which involved the community and a little ingenuity was dismissed outright by the NWDA and a potential public, private, community partnership binned in favour of a purely private (but publicly funded) solution which subsequently has proven to be a waste of money. Sound familiar?

At the start of this week, one of the householders near the Mallerstang (which is very close to where Lambing Live was filmed last spring) rang asking if I had 270m of spare fibre or duct. I personally generally carry slightly less than this around in my pocket, so several unanswered calls later to suppliers and a chance conversation with Chris Conder (about where our lives were vanishing in helping solve problems for free when there are millions in the public purse to find solutions) tracked down some community owned armoured fibre. Within literally a few hours, that fibre had been purchased and was wending its way back to be laid in the ground within hours of that first call. No committees, no incomprehensible DEFRA forms, no negotiating with councils or BDUK, no State Aid concerns - just action. True JFDI, and the job is now done whilst the trench was open. Hours, not months or even years later.

On driving down the Mallerstang this evening, it became obvious how many of those disconnected properties are businesses, struggling like hell to survive off the natural tourist trail, far from services, on a road which I know from experience is often omitted from any gritting programme in winter, and yet who have created a diverse community with huge potential and initiative. The Digital Dales logo was created there by a brilliant graphic designer, there are B & Bs, holiday cottages, a company which makes cakes, an architect, forestry, and who knows what other exciting rural businesses. Oh yes, and farms. The lifeblood of rural communities.

What is being proposed for this and similar rural and remote communities to follow the unsuccessful wireless network and to regenerate this tiny but vital rural area? Well, until Rory Stewart and Tim Farron decided to throw their weight behind the rural mobile broadband need, it was satellite. In fact, it is only in the last few days and weeks that "hard to reach areas" in Cumbria even got a sniff at upgraded 3G and the 4G trials, and even now it seems that the pilot projects in Cumbria will be the first to benefit rather than those in most need like the Mallerstang, and the many similar valleys around rural England who currently have NOWT in the way of acceptable communications.

We all know that necessity is the mother of invention. We celebrate the Keep Calm and ... Bury Fibre mentality at every opportunity. Yet, we are failing to support the communities who can put this into action and create the reality which will change all of our lives. These communities can substantially reduce costs in fibre lay, and are willing to grant wayleave as long as the community retains ownership of that fibre and it is not gifted to some greedy corporate or similar who wishes to screw the community forever more. The benefits of community FTTH approaches are regularly and increasingly logged worldwide as THE SOLUTION. However, instead we would seem to prefer to create bureaucratic hurdles at every opportunity, hold infinite meetings, and relegate those furthest from civilisation and services to be "outsiders" for as long as possible.

Subjecting these people to the ignominy of being unable to access even the most basic of online services, let alone innovate and explore the potential of individuals, communities, businesses, is a cardinal and inexcusable sin that should cause sleepless nights (or, IMHO, far worse) throughout Westminster and every single 'corridor of power'. For the townies who think we all make lifestyle choices about where we live, these rural citizens have in many instances been residents for generations and are often as hefted ('heafed' or 'heughed' in my bit of the Dales) and are as vital to the well-being of the land as the sheep and walls and heather. Not transient but permanent. As old as t'hills, almost literally.

It is far beyond the time where thrifty communities and individuals should be allowed access to pots of money which telcos deem insufficient to even write a viability study or get out of bed for, let alone lay fibre and connect people, despite fast-growing proof that communities can JFDI with the money that is available, whilst telcos and local authorities simply cannot.


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Happy 2012 and welcome to Hope

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Read more! Happy FTTH to all and may 2012 be the year that every single one of you fight tooth and nail to get it. First things first though... a warm welcome .......

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



It has been a very long time in the waiting for this young lady to arrive............ at 3.43pm UK time on 5th Jan 2012, (just before the Three Kings were due to show up), Hope was 'unzipped' with a weight of 6lb 12oz. This post is simply to add our congratulations to the thousands to our dearest friend Ellie Stoneley, her daughter Hope, and husband Roy so they know we are all wishing them the very best today, tonight, tomorrow and from now on.

Ellie (and Roy, obviously!) showed what a little fusion can do, and after the longest pregnancy in history for some of us, which has resulted in a massive reduction of the global candle mountain, we are all delighted to share in the joy that has come from welcoming Hope into the big wide world.

Many of us have been following #unbornbaby and The Spaniard and Ellie's blog. The strength evident in those posts and tweets, and shared unselfishlessly with so many of us, will help many to live our lives for the right reasons too over the coming months and years. A hearty thank you for allowing us the privilege to share in the courage shown, and also to those who have been on the sidelines through this experience. Especially all at the Rosie who we should probably inundate with flowers and gratitude for their unceasing work on behalf of parents UK wide, especially over Xmas and New Year when their families undoubtedly needed them too.

Ellie is an inspiration and friend to many of those here and across the community regeneration world, as well as having some serious A list connections -it all clearly illustrates just how loved she is, globally. Actually no-one can hold a light to her, her enthusiasm, passion or commitment in the community arena. And if you know Roy from the FTTH (kerb) world, then you'll understand the love emanating from 5tth Central for this family right now.

Everyone wishes Hope, Ellie, Roy and all of the Stoneley-Gradwells the very best. Our thoughts are with you and your close and extended family. xxx
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Byers Green, B4RN and Better news in 2012?

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A quick summary of this week's events, and a seasonal greeting.....

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com


It would seem that community pressure does indeed force BT to succumb. Byer's Green, one of the villages visited by John Popham during Can't Get Online week, have been informed that, despite meeting none of BT's criteria for FTTC, the villagers are to receive the upgrade.

From The Byers Green Community Forum


Happy Christmas to all our readers.


Your Christmas present follows below.


"Following our recent meeting with BT Openreach a 'demand assessment' review of the Broadband take-up in Byers Green was commissioned. This has now been analysed by BT Openreach and they have determined that the demand is sufficient to justify the necessary investment to provide a 'fibre to cabinet' upgrade of the Byers Green service.

The current expectation is that this will be installed some time in mid 2012."


You made it possible.

The view here is that it's a shame that the community has not sought a more permanent solution that doesn't hand over all the money each month far into the future to BT, and that a community social enterprise could at least have re-spent the cash locally, but one can only hope that 100% of the community can be served with at least something better than that which is currently provided by the incumbent.

And if you are a community who has not yet been told there will be an upgrade of any flavour, Byer's Green should offer more than a glimmer of hope. And why not aim for the true target - FTTH? After all, if it doesn't prove within, say, three years that it will be viable to BT in the long-term.... well, let's say there would be some hats eaten!

B4RN

Yesterday, it was standing room only at the B4RN launch, with communities and organisations from all over the UK filling seats and floorspace, much to the bemusement of some local people who obviously hadn't quite grasped what a unique and interesting project B4RN is for so many around the country. The opening of the share offer is a major milestone for community FTTH, and 5TTH is proud to have been a part of making history. Not quite Fiver To The Home but as close as you are ever likely to come.

Barry Forde was as impressive as ever, and listening to him talking tech to Seb from ThinkBroadband during the post-event networking about Juniper, IX, etc etc was one of those moments that reinforces the conviction that B4RN is set on exactly the right route. Not a single negative report has come out. In fact, here are some of the blogs, stories, tweets etc so you can read all about it.

• Pauline Rigby (Optical Reflection) 
• BBC Radio Lancashire
• John's Popham's Live audiocast
• The tweets
• Brian Condon's Liveblog
• Rory Cellan-Jones on the BBC Technology blog
• Ian Grant on Broken Telephone
• ThinkBroadband

Letters, videos and tweets of support from the Duke of Westminster, the first Google Fiber city- Kansas, EU Commissioner Neelie Kroess, Andrew Stott (Director of Digital Engagement at the Cabinet Office), ECFiber in Vermont, Dave Isenberg, and many, many others show just how much goodwill there is towards the success of this project. And its success may well raise many questions about the BDUK process during 2012......

However, there are those for whom the green eyed monster is showing because this FTTH, community led, 100% community benefit solution is now fully underway. Disingenuous attempts to dissuade potential investors are unlikely to work though because this is a value for money, long-term (not interim) solution where the Management Team are absolutely determined that every penny that can will stay within the community. And as has been discovered elsewhere, once the fibre goes into the ground to the first few people, communities get IT.

Share application forms can be downloaded from http://www.b4rn.org.uk so get yourself a great Xmas pressie and Buy a Bit of B4RN!

Breaking News: as I type this, Broken Telephone has published the worrying story that the VOA may be likely to further hamper efforts to lay fibre unless you are BT with a story headlined "VOA ready to bung BT billions". Not such great news.

And Finally......

Many, many thanks to everyone for the support, stories, and comments to 5TTH. There will now be a period of radio silence as family and personal commitments take precedence, even for this obsessed one! Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and New Year and let's hope that 2012 sees much more in the way of progress towards FTTH in the UK, rural and urban. And especially from communities who should not be tied to the lengthy BDUK process, the incumbent or interim solutions, and who should be allowed to innovate and deliver unhindered by bureaucracy, greed and downright short-sightedness. See the light  xxLindsey

......walks away singing, "C'mon baby light my fibre"

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Pensions meet broadband - mutual benefits

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Just been reading Francis Maude's statements on procurement, IT, government etc which led to the discovery of the launch of the Mutuals Information Service by the Cabinet Office yesterday. In the middle of the CW article is a reference to MyCSP - My Civil Service Pension (lucky buggers even getting a pension). MyCSP is a mutual handling, obviously, pensions so let's join the dots to broadband....

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



Now, as with all things in #ThatLondon Borough of Westminster, it appears one hand doesn't know what the other is doing. But, we're used to that....

The Cabinet Office is pushing hard for the involvement of SMEs in IT procurement. Sadly, this message didn't appear to make it down the road to BDUK, who specifically excluded SMEs of any size (in fact, most companies) in the procurement. But, to give them their due, are now rapidly trying to make up for lost ground by chucking £20M at the problem and taking it to the extreme by expecting communities to become social ventureprises and expecting parishes etc to move into a world dealing with the sharks that are telcos and the throwing knives that are gap-funding grants.

We have already begun to investigate #RCBF through this blog, and it seems from today's postbag and retweets that we are not alone in our concerns.

Anyhow, onto the positive. In that article, we find reference to MyCSP which is a mutual set up and owned by three parties - the staff (read: community), the government, and a private sector company. It manages 15 million pensions, which is not far different from the 20 million households in UK of which approx 70% at present want a decent broadband connection. The government plans to roll out more of such mutual and innovative structures so here is a little suggestion.

Read this quote from Francis Maude and let's replace the word 'employees'.....

Too often there’s been a binary choice between the Government providing a service itself, or outsourcing it to the private sector. These choices have historically been driven by a belief that services have to be controlled centrally – with a one size fits all approach that has left little room for innovation.

“We are looking for more innovative ways to structure services. We know that COMMUNITIES [employees] who have a stake in their business, or take ownership of it completely, have more power and motivation to improve the service they run. They can also benefit from partnerships with private or voluntary sector organisations which can bring in capital and expertise.

“For the private sector, which can no longer expect the generous margins of the past, tapping the talent of COMMUNITIES [frontline staff] to improve efficiency will be a priority. The state too can keep a stake so that taxpayers benefit from the rising value of an improved service...."

Each of the five #RCBF models could be run in this mutually beneficial way. And should be. So should all broadband projects. It is time for every Council, civil servant, company, community and consumer to endeavour to grasp new ways of working. The old ones clearly did not and do not benefit all, whereas a mutual can. Especially when it is a mutual with stakeholders from all parties represented on the Board, as Directors etc, not a Smoke & Mirrors Mutual.

This approach would put paid to all the greed currently rife in broadband, and which is about to explode yet further as consultants, telecom laywers, private companies etc seek to slaughter the cash cow that this tranche of broadband monies will end up supporting (rather than actual delivery) if we are not careful.

It's not just about money though. (Although you'd think it was all about money the way some people unceasingly mouth off about it). What it would be nice to see is some goodwill, collaboration and co-operation for the common good and mutual benefit. Especially at this time of year.

For more info on Mutuals, the website was launched yesterday http://mutuals.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/
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RCBF

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Read more! The Rural Community Broadband Fund has been launched with £20M in the pot. The discussions are now ensuing, particularly on Twitter, about how this will work. We have a few questions too....

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



There are now so many pots of money flying around for rural and urban broadband that it is incredibly easy to get confused. And that's those of us in the know. For those new to the party, it's difficult to believe that it's going to be possible to navigate the acronyms, processes etc and arrive at the correct, long term, sustainable solution, rather than just endeavour to spend the money on sticking plasters. And probably fail.

It would be fantastic if all of us who had campaigned so long and so hard for rural broadband to receive attention (and funding) were right now sitting here cheering that progress was being made. But the reality is that this is all looking like a right royal cock up that is being rushed through with little thought to what actually should be being done. But, no doubt, those who believe they are right will continue unchecked, without listening to those on the ground who can see the problems that this could all cause.

The places where the problems are going to occur are not in well-funded offices with annual budgets due to be renewed in April, but in hard-pushed communities already struggling to stay afloat and suffering volunteer fatigue, as government pushes its problems out of its departments and the civil service into the hands of the overtaxed and unpaid public.

So, with a quick background first, we have questions.....

RCBF comes from Defra and is from the Rural Development Program for England pot. It is aimed specifically at rural areas who qualify in the Final 10% (although this on the whole has not been defined by anyone yet) and community projects. (Unlike the £100M the other day, which is for urban projects, and is a slice of the £530M taken from the BBC License Fee and which was intended for the Final Third).

The reality is that all of this money, even with a zero added, is not sufficient for the task. But, instead of trying to do a few areas well with the money we have, we are slicing and dicing the pots into such small amounts that we are going to end up doing nowhere properly. Any business run in this way would be on its knees in a few months, probably weeks.

Currently, there is an Applicant's Handbook and a 5 page Rural Community Broadband Toolkit to guide you through the maze that is designed to part communities from 75% of the project costs. Section 7 of the Applicant's Handbook includes the completely bizarre statement under Value For Money

Based on BDUK’s experience of establishing Superfast Broadband solutions (24Mbps and above) in hard to reach areas, we would expect that a Superfast Broadband connection should require an average grant aid of approximately £300 per premise enabled.

(I'm sure all of us would love to know precisely where this BDUK experience has been gained considering the current state of play with BDUK bids in this country).

Expressions of interest for the RCBF are due in between 1st Dec and 31st January 2012. Which gives you, as Pastieman69 pointed out, about one actual working day to get it together if you are an average community.

Our questions:

The applicant is fully responsible for any liabilities associated with the project, such as the clawback of grant funds (potentially plus a penalty) should the project fail to deliver against your contract.

So if the network/upgrade is deemed substandard due to contractor fault(s) the community has to pay? Even if the contractor is BT/Fujitsu? Seems to be heavily in the telcos' favour to trigger this and then move in to remedy once the community have paid in full for it.

You cannot claim for any costs incurred in advance of securing approval of any full application.

So any consultants parachuted in to work on the EOI/work towards full bid with the community would have to be paid for by the community?

You will only be able to recover expenditure once you have been able to provide evidence that you have paid for it. This means that you can only claim against actual defrayed expenditure – at a static intervention rate for each claim.

Who decides the defrayed payment rate, and what happens if suddenly the price is increased overnight?

You will therefore need to make arrangements to pay for all works up front, meaning that you will need some reserve funds or other means to "bank roll" the project.

Ok, pay for it all from within the community, and we'll give you the allocation of funds to cover the "assumption of £300 per premise and up to 50%". What returns are investors/parishes & CIC's expected to get to repay any money borrowed against the project to fund it? And, more importantly, who will actually own the infrastructure - the community or the contractor/telco used to build/connect to it?

If procuring services, you will need to comply with public procurement rules appropriate to any contracts you put out to tender, and you will need to treat all bidders transparently and equally in your procurement process(es).

If you have to talk to/go through a telco to set this all up before putting out to tender, how can it be transparent tendering if you then award them the contract? Who will pay for the tender if it has to go through TED/OJEU?

Every single cost is already known for each technology. Except ONE. Backhaul. Where is the solution for getting affordable backhaul to each and every one of the communities in the final 10% or the Final Third?



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Fibre in our daily diet

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(Don't nick the graphic - ask, as it's mine - LA*).

Not for nothing have I shown up at suit-only events wearing a tshirt (and freezing for the cause) saying "Rural broadband contains nuts and fibre" - after all, it's a key message. And you can buy a shirt too, or a mug. But I'm not a mug and c'mon Innocent, BITC, Nabisco, Kellogg etc, where are you?

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



Over the years (10+ now for fibre), I have spoken to every single company that has a green flash on its cereal boxes, makes fibre rich products, or tries to sell any food item on the basis of its fibre content. A few have even been ready to sponsor my conferences (like The Endgame in 2004 for new home developers looking to do FTTH - a little ahead of its time, I will now admit 7 years later, but I was right about new build and true broadband becoming Govt policy, even back then**).

But, where are you now? Why are you not leaping on to community fibre projects as the 'soap powder sponsors'? (Those sponsors who are not directly related to the product or cause, but who can see how massive the target audience is they can reach).

BT are a huge soap powder sponsor. The vast majority of BT's sponsorships (is there a list?) have nowt to do with telecoms or phones or broadband etc.

It is time for the companies who make food and fibre (wool, textiles etc) products to realise that getting in front of those who SHOP ONLINE over a decent broadband connection (not one of these poxy copper thingies I am on) will seriously appreciate fibre.

I'm willing to act as the agent to put you in touch with projects and communities needing to support fibre projects.....oh look, another idea I just gave away for free. oops. Run with it someone. Go and sit in Innocent Towers until they understand that no-one can actually watch the great links in the newsletter without a decent connection (Row, Shilpee etc should get it but they may need to look back to 2008 for the mails!).

Whoever picks this idea up, which has been floating around in my head since before we did the SABC Aviemore event (part of the Access to Broadband Campaign which laid the majority of the foundation stones for what has happened post-CUT), it won't hurt you to make a donation to Cyberbarn and buy some shares in B4RN. Instead of just constantly ripping off the good people doing all the hard work to make the way easy for you. (5-10 years later than the action was required, but we appreciate you turning up finally!)

Like I said, I'll stop ranting soon......;)

* It's hard not to take a dim view of people stealing my ideas (I put more than enough out there for free as it is) and then not even buying me a curry (Simon) or making a contribution to the twins' Paypal account. One good 'friend' has screwed me for over £50k hard cash, another 'friend' has taken me for a mug and is now being aggressive (most unQuakerly) with myself and rural communities in an attempt to line his (women don't work like this) pockets. Surely this world can't be full of thieves or money grabbing nasties? In this instance, it's just a food group, cereal packet and concept. ASK. Or donate.

** Long story, blame the Destruction of Trade and Industry for getting jittery about my actions.

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B4RN is go!! :)))

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We all knew today would come, it was just when, but now it really is ALL go! Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN or Barn to its followers) has passed the required number of registrations to proceed with building a world class, gigabit, ubiquitous, community owned and run, community benefit FTTH network. And there's more....

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



There is an invite-only Launch event for the company and share offer on 15th December at 2pm at The Storey, Lancaster. This is an opportunity for potential investors and those that B4RN will be connecting to come together to meet the Management Committee, hear much more about the project, see the maps, and more. (Cyberdoyle has promised cake too!) Full details of the share offer will be given and for many it will be a chance to learn what they can do to help with the next phase. This is a hands-on community project and our network of supporters extends around the globe already. (If you would like to attend the Launch event, please let infoatb4rndotorgdotuk know ASAP as space is limited to 150 people).

Unless you have been living off-planet, you will know by now what B4RN intends to do. How we are going about doing it is undoubtedly unique, but we believe it will prove to be (and have designed the project to be) eminently replicable elsewhere. Our main aim is to connect what is (if there was a proper definition) the Final Ten Percent and disprove all these claims of rural and remote FTTH non-viability. The first 8 parishes are without a doubt in deeply rural areas. I can highlight just how rural by saying that when we were looking at which bank we should approach for the company account and/or for a loan deal for anyone looking to borrow the money at a special rate to buy shares, we realised that there wasn't actually a branch of ANY bank in the project area! (Which highlights the importance of being able to access internet banking...)

The next phase requires an incredible amount of commitment from a growing number of people so this blog may become less rant-ridden over the coming months as I am as determined as any other member of the current Management Team and the Lune Valley residents to make this succeed by throwing everything we have at it from our own skills and expertise. And it is quite a team, which you probably couldn't have headhunted if you had tried, but which I suspect reflects the enormous talent you can find in rural areas if you just look.

I am copying and pasting the text of the press release below for anyone who wishes to run with it for their own blog, local paper, news site, council etc to show just what can be done in rural areas, whatever the hype would have you believe. We continue to be as open as possible with the info we are putting out there (unlike others) so let us know if we have overlooked anything that you need to know.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 1st December 2011


Residents in North Lancashire launch Fibre Optic Broadband Company

An exciting community initiative, initially across eight parishes of rural Lancashire, to deliver a world class hyperfast fibre optic broadband network is being launched at The Storey in Lancaster on 15th December at 2pm.

Broadband has become essential for every sector of the community and increasingly important for our daily lives. Government and the large telecom companies plan to upgrade broadband to ‘superfast’ but not in many rural areas, where limited internet and mobile coverage affects businesses, homes and farms. The difficulty is reaching economic viability when private companies’ costs are so high and subscriber numbers are low.

Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) plans to lower the costs, both in the building of the broadband network and to the end user, by using local contractors and the community. “Farmers and local people have the skillset we need for this project. They know the land and people, and have been offering to work for shares, which means the digging for the core network can start early in 2012. We expect this to be completed in approximately 3 months, weather permitting, and then we will begin to connect the first users,” stated Professor Forde. Shares will be available from 15th December - further information and application forms will be available on the B4RN.org.uk website on that date.

B4RN’s plans are for a hyperfast broadband network fit for purpose far into this century.
A 1 gigabit (1000Mbps) connection will ensure that any interaction with the Internet will be quick and easy. Television, films, cheap phone and video calls over the Internet, the ability to extend local mobile phone networks to cover black-spots, local security, telehealth and medicine applications - all will become possible. B4RN will be initially be providing the broadband connection and VoIP telephony, with further services to follow as the network rolls out over the coming years.

Barry Forde, B4RN Chief Executive, will explain the project and launch the share offer in the company to raise the necessary capital required over the next few months. Representatives from the first phase communities of Melling, Arkholme, Quernmore, Abbeystead, Wray, Tatham, Roeburndale, Wennington and Caton with Littledale will be at the event as well as local dignitaries and celebrities.

B4RN is a community benefit company, owned by its shareholders. Income made will be re-invested in the service and spent within the communities the company serves. The shares are being made available under the EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) that offers 30% tax relief, with a minimum investment of £100 and maximum of £20,000.

B4RN hopes to attract the support of local, national and international investors, whilst remaining a truly community-run business, bringing fast, future-proof, sustainable Internet access to the rural uplands, for this generation and those to come, leaving a lasting legacy for the area.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. B4RN has been more than three years in the planning and development stage. The B4RN project will bring a state of the art, fibre optic broadband connection to the rural communities long before most of the urban areas. Rural Lancashire plans to be a world leader in “hyperfast”.

2. Professor Barry Forde (B4RN Chief Executive) is a networking expert with many years experience of designing, building and operating high performance networks. He was responsible for the CLEO network which provides connectivity to over 1000 schools and public sector sites across Lancashire and Cumbria. Bios are available for Professor Forde and the Management team http://tinyurl.com/6tpdkmt

3. The full business plan is available on the website, along with details of the pricing and payment structure for local residents and businesses. http://tinyurl.com/895uvdx This includes bonuses of free install and connection for 12 months with a £1500 investment, three further free months for early bird investors, and payment in shares for involvement in the deployment of the project.

4. A target of 662 registrations of interest were required for a green light and this was passed in just three months. The project moves one step closer to implementation with the launch of the Share Issue. “The phased network will be built by the community over three years for the seven phases. Now we have passed our target of over 700 registrations of interest in investment and taking a service at £30/month for 1Gbps, we can proceed to raise the capital required for Phase 1,” said Barry Forde.

5. B4RN will initially provide internet and telephony with further services in the future. Each home will have a battery backup so telephony over the fibre means landline connections are no longer required.

6. Christine Conder, a farmer’s wife and rural broadband pioneer, who successfully dug and installed the first rural fibre cable to her farm in Wray in 2009, knows it can be done and sums up the enthusiasm and ethos of B4RN, “If we don’t do it ourselves then it will never get done, so B4RN is the answer, let’s all JFDI.”

7. Photos (to be accredited to B4RN) are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/b4ruralnorth

Contact details:

Professor Barry Forde, Barry@B4RN.org.uk
Christine Conder, Chris@B4RN.org.uk
Lindsey Annison, Lindsey@B4RN.org.uk

Telephone: 01524 221588 or mobile: 07952 503253 / 07967 670759
Twitter: @dig2agig
Website: http://www.B4RN.org.uk
JFDI (Just Farmers Doing IT)







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How low can we go, CEO of Geo?

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Can you limbo? It is beginning to feel as if the bar is now perilously low to the ground and there are few sane folk left willing to sink to the depths of our apparently less than meagre national ambition to have the "best broadband infrastructure in Europe". (Yes, yes, hollow laughs all round at this seemingly ludicrous (cl)aim that is still being made in the face of so much fact-based evidence to the contrary).

Chris Smedley, CEO of Geo last week answered a few questions for 5tth about PIA, BDUK and the future, after the announcement that Geo were, sadly, dropping out of the BDUK process.

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



There is not a single factor that is seeing off the valuable players in this game, nor is there out and out disagreement with PIA as a concept, rather it is the pricing and terms that are the issue. But the truth is that if you wanted to blame a single issue then PIA in its current form would be it. PIA has little to offer as a solution as it stands, and it is blowing business plans out of the water for UK broadband for our next generations. PIA needs serious work, or scrapping, so it seemed appropriate with all that is going on, or rather not going on, for a ditty to mark the occasion.



There has already been much said about Geo's departure, BDUK, the wisdom of the current approach of spending the money, PIA etc. For many, this departure by Geo feels like a tipping point. No longer is it just community folk, tech journos, and small players making a noise and querying what is actually being done in our name and with our money. Now the big guys are dropping out of BDUK, rural broadband, national and regional solutions etc and making it quite clear why.

LA: Is the BDUK process rescuable, or are we too far down the line of handing the money to BT?

Chris Smedley: That’s for Government and Ofcom (and maybe even BT) to decide. If BT voluntarily dropped the restrictions on PIA and BDUK quickly developed an alternative to the gap funding model then things could be turned round quite quickly. However, as we have asked for all these things already and been denied them on the basis that there is no demand from industry then I wouldn’t hold out too much hope. That means the much slower process of getting Ofcom to intervene on PIA and fibre leasing which will probably take two years to get clear pricing and fair terms for something we could all use as BT will when they deploy new fibre cables. I have no idea whether DCMS will ask BDUK to develop an alternative to the gap funding model. I think they should. I do find it difficult to see anyone other than BT winning the current pilots or the Next Generation Broadband Wales procurement as things stand.

LA: Chris, you must have done the numbers - what figures make it impossible for GEO? What is the gap?

Chris Smedley: Too difficult to generalise as each procurement was different. The simple facts are that using existing poles and ducts is about 5% of the cost of building a new network. Where they exist, other players simply have to be able to use them or it is impossible to compete against BT. If you can’t do so for the long distances to get to remote rural communities as the current PIA stops us from doing then we end up with a proportionately higher cost base than our main competitor for the longest parts of the network. If you then can’t use the new fibre cable to serve local businesses, the public sector, the mobile and wireless industries or other ISPs for backhaul then somewhere between 50-70% of the potential revenues in your business case are zeroed out. BT suffers from none of these restrictions (and has the lion’s share of the current market anyway) so it is easily going to be able to offer more “gap funding” than anyone else.

LA: What have BDUK said to you to make the decision to give up?

Chris Smedley: They have told us that they cannot address any of these concerns about PIA as they are the responsibility of the regulator, Ofcom. Ofcom have told us they are being considered within the Business Connectivity Market Review. This is currently due to conclude at the end of next year and then we will have to negotiate with BT a new contract – assume two years from now at current rate of progress – well after BDUK’s procurements will have concluded. They have told us that there is no demand (presumably other than us) for a non gap funded framework for bidders. Between them, they made our decision pretty easy in the end!

LA: Do you believe that councils could be illegally funding a furthering of a monopoly in 7-10 years' time through the BDUK procurement process?

Chris Smedley: I doubt it is illegal for them to choose BT through the BDUK procurement process – although if the European Commission do apply their state aid guidelines as they have said they will then you would expect no project to become operational unless it offers a fully unbundled dark fibre product to the rest of the market. BT won’t do this at the moment. The sad precedent is that when this got explored after the award to BT of the Cornwall project, Ofcom and Government supported a push back against the EU on this point, arguing (successfully) that this was a matter for the national regulator and that the chosen UK remedies were not unbundled fibre but PIA (!) and VULA (BT’s “virtually” unbundled service – whatever that means). We hear worrying noises from Ofcom that they are considering meeting the EU’s requirements for unbundling in the future with “wavelength unbundling”. For us, as a dark fibre operator, this is all nonsense. Optical fibre cables have lots of fibre in them. Unbundling is a simple lease of the sub-divided elements the market likes to buy (usually a pair).

(I'll put an intro to this next question as I have not blogged this yet. During our meeting with Jeremy Hunt recently here in Cumbria, John Colton of FibreGarden, one of the BDUK Technical Trials Pilots, raised the issue for consideration of a State Aid "premium". This would be for those going straight for the jugular and doing FTTH rather than interim solutions.

The BDUK money is currently being divvied up on a technology neutral basis with all solutions receiving the same per household however long the likely lifespan or suitability of the product, but this fails to appreciate that FTTH will need no further investment. The argument for a premium being that none of those communities/providers doing fibre with this round of money will require any upgrade dosh in the future, whereas all other solutions will be doing an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. If we are to spend this money, surely we should spend it wisely?)

LA: Do you feel that fibre to the home is being penalised more than, say FTTC, BET, wireless?

Chris Smedley: Yes.

LA: On top of PIA costs, there is also fibre tax, and no premium is being paid to those willing to invest in the longer term rather than stop gap/interim solutions. Can this be rectified?

Chris Smedley: Easily by a determined government which REALLY wants to see fibre deployed across the UK.

LA: After Fujitsu making all the noise earlier this year, how do you feel about them being the first to work with BT on PIA? Stitched up?

Chris Smedley: We are still a PIA trialist and will remain so if possible as we are keen in the long-term to make PIA work. I have no idea why they think it is a good tactic to ignore the deficiencies in the current product and praise BT for launching the current limited product. You will have to ask them! [I will!]

LA: How can Geo now help communities (including councils) to ensure that the gap funding generates local profits as well as /instead of those for a private company?

Chris Smedley: We would have been happy to help by developing viable schemes for councils based on an alternative model to gap funding (like FibreSpeed). We wouldn’t ever have accepted the gap funding model. Going forward, we are going to be focusing on our core business and leaving this task to others (if there are any other than BT).

LA: Where do we go from here?

Chris Smedley: That’s now a question for Ofcom and Government, I’m afraid. Look at New Zealand would be my advice.

Many thanks to Chris for taking time out to answer my questions. It is undoubtedly way past time now for a long hard look at what route we are taking to achieve the goals required in this country. When such exciting companies as Geo and Vtesse are no longer available to innovate, inspire and connect the communities who so need the type of solutions that the agile, generous-spirited, imaginative yet profitable telcos (rather than the oil tanker behemoths) could deliver, summat 'as garn wrang, as they say round here.

Fujitsu & Friends, please stick it out. You are pretty much our only hope now to save this country from yet more global humiliation.




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True Cost of Copper Infrastructure - correction

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Read more! Suddenly remembered the other night that many moons ago I stood in a scrapyard next to a complex and expensive piece of machinery, feeding in bits of cable, and then took a large amount of copper granules to weigh-in in Leeds or somewhere over that way. The reason it had escaped my memory was that that was the beginning of a 3 day mission/adventure to Sussex via a circuitous route that included the wilds of Lincolnshire and a 1948 Leyland Beaver to pick up my 1966 Magirus Deutz. Which takes precedence over bags of copper in the memory stakes.

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



However, it prompted a call to the scrapyard where that happened to get some grassroots information about this copper malarkey. "Hi, it's Lindsey. Where would I find out accurate prices for copper?" "You'd ring me." "Err, yeah, well, that's what I've done!"

"What copper?" "Well, it's BT's copper and there is rather a lot of it. Tonnes of it."

"Firstly, there is no way you can sell this to anyone without a certificate. No-one will touch it, well, no-one honest would. It's marked and traceable. To find out prices you talk to LME or Simms here in the North but you can't deal direct with them with BT copper straight out of the ground."

This is where we had a lengthy conversation about the machinery I remembered. Not this model but a cable granulator, which crushes the components of the cable, separates it and sorts it, to get the highest grade of copper possible, which will in turn fetch the highest price.

And here comes the rub: "But BT copper is low grade. Really low grade. The lowest of the low. It is made up of lots of fine copper wires and needs plenty of work to get anything useful from it. In fact, you'd be lucky to get, um, a grand a tonne."

(The 'um' was telling. Bear in mind, this is a successful businessman who makes his money out of scrap so you can choose your percentage to add on to that for what he gets for it!)

"How much have you got?"

I've known this guy a long time and he knows full well I would not have stolen anything, so there was no point stringing him along with answers like 10 million tonnes so I said, "It's not actually mine..."

"Don't get involved, it's not even worth the hassle for the price you can get for it, especially if there are no certificates from BT saying you have permission to recycle it. The only way to make anything back from it is if it's yours ie if you are BT, and if you have access to a granulator [Which is a £20k+ piece of kit] and have someone like me to process and trade it for you."

So, a quick back of the envelope calculation says that to someone like me with a few tonnes of the stuff, selling it through my mate the scrapman who is going to take his margin, we are down to £10bn instead of £50bn. Which shows just how unreliable both El Reg and the Telegraph articles were in getting to the nitty gritty.

It's still one helluva lot of money to have in the ground hindering progress, especially when you think that the readjusted figure for ubiquitous FTTH across the whole of the UK is now between £10 and £14bn. BT are apparently putting in £2.5bn to do Infinity, Fujitsu want to spend £1.5bn, and companies such as Iuhba are threatening to spend another £1.5bn etc. Either my maths is very poor or those three companies plus weighing in the copper could see us fibred to the home UK-wide.

(Not that I am suggesting we pursue this route of allowing a handful of companies to do it and own it all as I remain convinced that open access is the *only* way forward for this country and others, but I'm just pointing out that the figures stack!)
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WiBe testing on a hill

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Read more! Headed up the hill to one of the few places that seems to get 3G round here. Although I still couldn't see it on my iPhone, except very sporadically, when I managed to get a quick test in, the WiBe settled in pretty quickly.

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



The initial euphoria at finding a far better connection speed than ADSL can offer in Upper Eden has not yet worn off! Am seriously debating finally going into agriculture and setting up a WiBe farm with lots of them in my attic.

WiBe test

3G Test on iPhone




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The True Cost of Britain's Copper Infrastructure III

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It's all very well pointing out the problems. Doing so makes us all just question marks. But what is the solution?

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



In a simplistic world, (the one I live in where anything is possible) but taking into account that there are companies with internal economies now larger than most EU countries who have more than just a vested interest, I propose the following:

1) Strip out the copper.

Use prisoners, unemployed, the digitally furious willing to give endless time and money to solve the problems of impoverished broadband, the NEETs, the retired, and all those in this country who need and want to be part of a Big Society that does anything it can to get this country back on track.

2) Map the duct locations

Using GIS, ensure that every single one of the now empty ducts available for re-use for fibre is mapped. This lack of accurate mapping and current knowledge about what is in the ducts and where has caused untold problems for many. Let's get it right this time.

3) Sell the copper

Sell, locally to limit copper miles, not just to scrap merchants, but to artisans and businesses in this country who already use copper in their manufacturing processes, or can come up with new products that do. Thereby preventing and reducing the need to import, particularly whilst the pound is weak, whilst also helping to rejuvenate the manufacturing industry we so badly need for an economic turn-around. There is a huge range of products that can be made from copper. It will also give us the chance to innovate, be ingenious, and spot gaps in the market (for which the British were once renowned), using this natural resource that belongs to Britain.

4) Create a Trust Fund or similar

This copper, whether in the railways, telecommunications or utility industries, was on the whole probably mostly paid for by the public purse. Considering the reasons for removing it - public safety, reduction of risk to life, benefits to the nation as a whole - there should be little to no argument from any corner about putting it into a Trust Fund (or similar) to create a resource that is open to all to benefit from in the future - a fibre network.

5) Put in the right people.

Those in charge of the Trust Fund should be experienced in managing assets for the public good and for long-term profitable aims. Not experienced in box ticking, or telecoms, or manufacturing, or lining their own pockets, but in ensuring that money of the hard cash variety is spent where it can achieve maximum value for the people of this country. The money should in no way be permitted near any body which has not got a scrupulous record, so that's banks/financial institutions, public sector/government departments, etc OUT of the running.

The size of the potential pot will undoubtedly attract unscrupulous individuals and companies who spy a fat wage in return for administration. These type of people should be weeded out from any involvement with the Trust Fund administration, aggressively and ruthlessly. (They seem pretty easy to spot IMHO).

The 'Secretariat' (for want of a better word) will be publicly accountable, have simplistic and achievable aims, and spend as much money as possible a) locally b) regionally and c) nationally. It is time we stopped giving away our resources (financial and otherwise) to other nations when we are in such a dire state ourselves. If we need to invest some money to create fibre manufacturing plant again, and associated jobs and wealth, then that will be done. We've got enough sand......

6) Buy fibre.

Sufficient to replace that damned copper once and for all. If only half of the copper in the ground is replaceable, its resale value is still at least twice what is required by the latest estimates to do FTTH across the whole country. Yes, flooding the market with second hand copper may reduce the price, but that is the point of encouraging new markets to add value to the raw material by processing it into something new and exciting. The demand for the 'glut' of copper by doing so should counter any drop in price, and will actually make any new products far more competitive if the wholesale price of the raw material does drop.

7) Look at the whole thing holistically.

As these three posts have endeavoured to show, the FTTH issue is not related to any single sector. It is not just about telecoms, nor transport, nor the energy industry. Nor the emergency services and disruption thereof, nor the cost to the NHS and associated services when someone fries themself thieving power cables (which I understand may be irreplaceable with fibre). It is not purely about expense to the public, private or family purse, or the savings we can all enjoy if we get this right. And it is certainly not about the ROI for a single sector in doing FTTH as it affects all of us.

Whilst a research company, aided by its largest clients from the telecoms sector, can pluck a figure out of the air and claim it is going to cost £x to do ubiquitous FTTH, it is not beyond the wit of man (or this woman) to see the solution. Especially if we look at the problem from multiple angles and the eyes of the beneficiaries, and not just through the lens of a single sector, fighting to protect its olde worlde profits in a brave new and very different 2.0 world.

As I said, I live in a simple world. One where everyone stands to win. That's where FiWi Pie came from - a slice of the fibre-wireless pie for everyone.






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The True Cost of Britain's Copper Infrastructure II

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Further to the previous post about the cost in lives as well as a wastage of £billions within the utility, transport and communications infrastructure sectors, there are yet further costs of the continuing existence of this copper to point out e.g. the effect on the mobile industry and every sector which uses that.

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com



Ebay have just commissioned a report by Verdict Research about the poverty of mobile coverage in the UK and hence its impact on m-commerce. Whilst we talk about spectrum frequently, one subject which requires far more coverage is the backhaul to mobile masts, especially in rural areas.

This backhaul is frequently supplied by costly and lengthy copper wires. As any business will tell you, overheads such as this can be a killer which seriously affects the bottom line of any business. Yes, the mobile operators make healthy profits, especially from very low cost and profitable services such as SMS, but high overheads do affect the appetite for investment, particularly in such a competitive environment as the mobile industry where there are far too many loss-leaders, mainly in order to prevent too much churn to competitors.

Ebay's research about m-commerce is telling, especially when you consider that in most cases, m-commerce requires solid access to data services in order to function properly.

The totaltele.com article summarising Ebay's research begins with this paragraph:

eBay on Friday warned that patchy mobile network coverage, slow connection speeds and poor reliability is costing the U.K. economy £1.29 billion per year in lost sales.

The article goes on to say:

"M-commerce sales are already worth some £1.35bn to the UK economy, and are set to grow fourteen-fold over the next ten years to £19.26 billion by 2021," said eBay. "It is therefore essential for Ofcom to seriously consider the interests of m-commerce when considering what regulatory approach to take towards mobile broadband provision."

It is time for Ofcom and the government to consider not just the availability of spectrum but also the associated middle mile costs that fall to the mobile operators. And AFAIK, the vast majority of wired mobile backhaul and longhaul comes from BT and is copper-based. (Correct me, anyone?)

What these statements from Ebay would appear to imply is that we are losing around half of the potential income EACH YEAR because of the poverty of the network.

Start adding together the costs from the previous article and this one, and we are getting into per annum revenue figures that make the total costs of ubiquitous FTTH deployment seem more than just affordable. FTTH starts to seem imperative for long-term savings and to assist an economic turnaround.

And we haven't started on public sector savings yet, or added in the savings to each household of true broadband access. Or the environmental savings which can be achieved by replacing costly, energy-hungry, and aged equipment required to run a copper network with modern, energy efficient, fibre kit.

I am undoubtedly getting myself into hot water with posts which protest the case, such as this, particularly amongst those for whom there is still an addiction to copper, but it all has to be said. Over and over again until the message gets across that we must do something, and we must start to JFDI now.

There is an article by Caitlin Moran entitled, "Protesters? They're beautiful!" in which she points out that protesters are not required to have answers, they are there to stand as a question mark asking, "What are you going to do about this?"

This is one such online protest, with a big fat question mark, to our policy makers, telcos, public sector, decision makers, purse holders, communities, citizens and businesses asking that very question.






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