How Cumbria’s village halls are pioneering a hi-tech revolution
09:18 in News by Rory Stewart
I wrote an article for yesterday’s Observer about our broadband campaign. Here it is, in case any of you missed it:
This winter, 130 activists gathered to discuss superfast broadband in a village hall in Cumbria. They had come from 100 villages, by 100 paths. Ali had presumably travelled north along the shore of Ullswater, rounded Loadpot Hill and turned south down the Lowther valley, until (three miles from where she began, but 45 minutes by car), she could take the narrow track east across the moor. Brian came over Hartside at 3,000ft, down the switchbacks into Eden, and worked his way along the East Fellside. They were joining a community experiment, which is becoming almost a revolution.
Their problems are distance and isolation. They live in Eden, the most sparsely populated district in England, some of whose villages, like mine at Butterwick, have only seven houses. Bus services are going, fuel costs are high and roads are poor. My neighbour with Parkinson’s has to drive to Newcastle hospital – a four-hour round trip – just to talk to a neurologist. There was once a grammar school in our valley but now there is no primary school: children travel further and find it difficult to stay after class. We are struggling to keep young people, partly because of the low wages (some of our hill farmers have incomes of less than £6,000 a year). The activists were gathering because they believe some salvation may lie in superfast broadband.
Broadband would allow our businesses to follow our local fishing supply shop, which does £1m of sales a year out of the door but £7m online. Farmers could fill forms online; Lake District B&Bs could market themselves in Japan; and “creative” industries that depend on fast internet speeds could grow. Parkinson’s patients could talk to their neurologist by videolink without leaving home (and grandparents could talk to their grandchildren in Canada); children could take classes which they couldn’t find in the district. Village shops could collaborate online to increase their purchasing power; village halls could share bookings; medical teams could exchange emergency calls more efficiently. People might decide again to work and bring their families up in villages.
But until recently, superfast broadband seemed about as likely in Cumbria as long, hot summers. Telecoms giants have tended to concentrate on urban areas where it is far cheaper per head to lay fibre optic cable. One of my neighbours was quoted more than £40,000 to connect his cottage. Governments have favoured centralised contracting with commercial giants and have never really had the money for superfast broadband. Over £100m has gone to improve broadband in Cornwall, but Cumbria is twice as big and difficult. Great Asby village, for example, is 20 km from the main fibre optic cable by the M6, cut off by the Orton scar that once separated the Danish Vikings at Asby from the Norse in the Vale of Lyvennet. A commercial contract could charge £1m for a connection.
But our Eden communities may have the solution. In Great Asby, one volunteer discovered there was already fibre, paid for by the taxpayer, for the school. The school let him splice off the fibre to a cabinet that he calls a “parish pump”. From that he ran a wireless network, with transmitters in the church tower and one, powered by solar panels, on a dead tree to reach the outlying farms. He has persuaded 70% of the village to sign up and is making enough money (as an unpaid volunteer) to upgrade the network. Local farmers have agreed to lay the fibre, at a fraction of the commercial cost. This is not a just impressive technology, it’s astonishing community action. And it suggests a model for rural Britain. The 130 activists who drove to Great Asby are now aiming to replicate it in 100 more villages. They have established a new website – though some of them have to drive to Penrith to log on. Libby, in Kirkby Stephen, is photographing and mapping all existing telecoms cabinets. Freddy, in Morland, is exploring alternative technologies from microwave transmitters and wireless hubs, to laying fibre in sewers. Five out of six farmers around Crosby Ravensworth have offered to forego wayleave charges and help dig trenches. Kate, in Stanwix, is training people to get online. Daniel, in Alston, is piloting medical tests from homes. How far can this go?
As the local MP I held a broadband conference in Penrith last September to show this community approach to Ed Vaizey, the broadband minister and to senior members of Obama’s broadband team (who flew from the States to Penrith). The community model became a carrot and a stick to encourage investment. Because communities can sign up well over 70% of a village to use broadband, they are much more attractive economic propositions. But if companies don’t invest, communities will bypass them entirely and build, own and run their own networks. Companies that would not normally focus on such a remote rural area now did. Virgin Media examined stringing fibre-optic cable along pylons; a Penrith company proposed sending data down electricity lines; and a Carlisle company offered its cable network. BT bid to provide broadband for about a tenth of the price we anticipated. There was even a presentation on how to connect the fellside village of Gamblesby by microwave.
The government has now recognised the Eden communities as the rural “big society” vanguard and announced a broadband pilot, focused on Eden. We have been assigned civil servants and promised money. Government departments have proposed services we could pilot online. A communications giant is developing applications for Eden; Cumbrian businesses are giving secondhand computer equipment to the elderly and volunteers are helping them get online.
But we’re not there yet. We must ensure that the vulnerable are not excluded; that alternative methods of communication, from letters to buses, continue to be supported and that the community networks do not become new monopolies. The technological, commercial, financial and legal problems are vast.
But the Great Asby meeting and website prove the drive of Cumbrian communities. I have little doubt that they will now give the most sparsely populated constituency in England the fastest broadband network in Europe. And that this technological and democratic miracle can spread across rural Britain. And while companies and government struggle to keep up, the activists will continue to muster in Cumbria.
Excellent article there Rory, that captures the essence of solving the 4th utility problem by direct community action.
You make an interesting point:
“Because communities can sign up well over 70% of a village to use broadband, they are much more attractive economic propositions.”
These exceptionally high levels of uptake are associated intimately with how such networks are owned and operated.
In Great Asby, where NextGenUs UK CIC is completing the upgrade of the existing wireless network and where we have costed deploying full FttH for the village, the local community know that GAB as a CIC or Community Interest Company puts their interests first.
This is the same experience that NextGenUs has had in other rural areas including North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
When people understand the difference between the community interest approach and conventional for-profit ownership then the advantages of CICs are clear and this drives demand for service.
What I will say as regards Cumbria is that there is a need for an overarching/umbrella CIC to deliver service to probably most communities who don’t actually want to run their own networks and simply want to benefit from CIC ownership and rules regarding asset lock and surplus redistribution.
To some degree Great Asby is an exceptional community, blessed with key individuals who have been prepared to work as unpaid volunteers to benefit their local community.
This will often not be the case in other communities hence the need for an umbrella CIC and NextGenUs is positioned to provide that service for those communities that want it now.
Great article Rory, raising awareness and reminding everyone that you have the backing of the reivers. Let us hope the reivers won’t be needed and the obstacles facing us can be overcome. As you rightly point out there are a lot, but we CanDoIt.
If we fail then future generations stuck on an obsolete copper network won’t thank us, we have to keep the faith and get a futureproof solution built or at least started and not settle for second best.
Guy, I guess many people have no interest in how their connection gets to them or how it works. Its just another utility, and we don’t have to spend time and effort on water or electric services so why should we expect everyone to be interested in their broadband? It is the people who can’t get it who will be the movers and shakers like Great Asby and Ashby and Digby, a lot of the rest will just be passive I guess. The ones who already have ADSL will settle for cabinets, they won’t be bothered to learn the difference between copper and fibre. The BDUK pilot is supposed to be for the digital havenots. The notspots and grotspots.
If the funding is used to get fibre connectivity out to them then it will show the rest what real broadband really is. Real NGA (next generation access) is better than ‘superfast’ or ‘infinity’. It is simply a pipe which will deliver whatever you want or are prepared to pay for. That is what we have to aim for then we don’t have to do it again in a few years. I see the danger of vouchers diluting the funding so that stop gap solutions soak it up instead of getting a major trunk built. I think vouchers would be great if we knew that the people spending them understood the issues, but if they choose to spend them on satellite for example it will mean they will be wanting more funding in a few more years won’t it? Were you thinking the vouchers would come with certain options or would we be able to spend them on something as obsolete as BET if we believed that was all we needed? Or is this why we need an umbrella CIC? I may be playing devil’s advocate here before someone else pops up with these questions… I can see the benefits but I can also see the pitfalls, as is generally the case. I would love a voucher scheme if everyone knew what real NGA was, but I fear many don’t. And I fear many don’t care, they just want something that works. They are sitting ducks to fall for cabinets, which won’t benefit the notspots and will increase the crapspots, but they won’t understand this. Just like they didn’t understand enabling exchanges in 2003 wouldn’t work for everyone and a digitial divide started which is still growing as the old network is over capacity.
chris
chris - which old network is over capacity? Maybe due to people wanting broadband for £10/month.
I do agree that the voucher scheme has either not been explained properly or does not make sense.
How do you involve the people close to the Eden Valley exchanges who get near to 8M?
I have been informed that I cannon get business broadband on the Carlisle BT exchange do to it being closed??? I was informed that his might be due to it being at full capacity or that they are doing something with it that prevents new business uptake. I have no factual or confirmation of either issue but it is a fact that the business broadband that I requested (with the exception of BT’s own brand was unavailable for the forseeable future) Anyhow
@chris i don’t think there are any community representatives still promoting copper, ASDL, BET or anything else that will leave them in a digital black hole (let me know if I am wrong on this champions).
You’re correct to say people don’t care how it all works as long as it’s fit for purpose. The problem I have is convincing 60 people that the connection they have now will not do all the things they will want it to in 2-3 years time. I then need to convince another 20 who do not yet have broadband (and don’t believe they need it) that it literally is the 4th utility. Ok maybe not today but very soon.
Unless these people are on board we can’t take the CIC route and quite frankly I don’t hold out much hope for true NGA in our community if we don’t.
Anything that can help garner support has to be welcomed and I believe vouchers can do that.
I agree Hector, this is the crux of the problem in the entire country, not just Eden. Until people have tried NGA they just don’t understand. Its the difference between the tin bath in front of the fire and a powershower or swimming pool.
The secret is to concentrate on the notspots, get a connection to them and let them demonstrate Next Generation Access. The rest will soon join in once word gets round. That is the only good thing that can come of funding. NGA can easily and affordably be delivered if everyone is up for it, the problem is the ones who have a connection presently don’t always want to support those who don’t. They have busy lives and don’t see the point of spending them campaigning or jfdi when they have access. I agree, the champions won’t fall for copper or satellite, but they all have a big job to do to make sure any delivery is futureproof and the majority who already have a connection don’t spoil it for the rest. This is our opportunity to really make IT happen for Cumbria.
Not the easiest system to quote and reply in so I’ve put some of Chris’s comments in “” and replied in line below each section:
“Guy, I guess many people have no interest in how their connection gets to them or how it works.”
Chris, I agree many folks don’t yet know, neither did you nor I years ago and we educated ourselves!
“Its just another utility, and we don’t have to spend time and effort on water or electric services so why should we expect everyone to be interested in their broadband?”
It’s horses to water too - so long as folks get the opportunity to decide and have their choice implemented then that has to be a great outcome and creates a democratic Big Society process of decision making.
The alternative is for local communities across Cumbria (and then that will set precendent to be applied across the entire UK) to accept what they are given in some conventional top-down Big Government procurement exercise.
“It is the people who can’t get it who will be the movers and shakers like Great Asby and Ashby and Digby, a lot of the rest will just be passive I guess.”
The ones who can’t get it are the core Final Third First brigade who in turn can, will and do educate others.
“The ones who already have ADSL will settle for cabinets, they won’t be bothered to learn the difference between copper and fibre.”
Sure and why shouldn’t folks at least have their choice? - they are the people who will be paying for what they settle for for years to come, so have every incentive to get it right.
“If the funding is used to get fibre connectivity out to them then it will show the rest what real broadband really is. Real NGA (next generation access) is better than ‘superfast’ or ‘infinity’. It is simply a pipe which will deliver whatever you want or are prepared to pay for. That is what we have to aim for then we don’t have to do it again in a few years.”
The danger is that by doing what seems to be a great thing namely putting in fat pipes to Digital Village Pumps or Community Hubs or wotnot in fact ensures that the very outcome you fear is most likely to happen i.e. BT being publicly-subsidised to extend fibre to their cabinets then hollowing out each parish by taking enough customers in the villages to kill the business case for the outliers.
Unless everyone gets to see benefit then that is digital division and policy failure by my measure.
“I see the danger of vouchers diluting the funding so that stop gap solutions soak it up instead of getting a major trunk built.”
Take rural Eden as 12.5k homes (excluding Penrith) and apply £5M to broadband vouchers - that’s £400 per home and with equal matched funding from NextGenUs plus total comitment for local community and landowners then that is job done.
Major trunks will be privately funded once there is enough 1st mile community demand and if BT don’t step up with commerially sensible offers then upstarts like GEO and NextGenUs will step up you can be sure of that!
“I think vouchers would be great if we knew that the people spending them understood the issues, but if they choose to spend them on satellite for example it will mean they will be wanting more funding in a few more years won’t it?”
This is where providing a Big SOciety incentive comes in - extra third for the final third - £300 value if a household chooses a stand-alone satellite solution and £400 value if that household joins together with the majority parish position.
This is true level playing field situation where each and every community can choose its Digital Destiny, be that BT, NextGenUs or a local CIC like GAB - the key point is choice and direct community empowerment.
“Were you thinking the vouchers would come with certain options or would we be able to spend them on something as obsolete as BET if we believed that was all we needed?”
The vouchers are only redeemable on delivery and must be matched funded too so payout only occurs when a suitable service is live - if people choose BET for example then that is their voucher-subsidised choice that they must live with - that does not prevent future developments in the local area and it does mean that the cost will come from people pockets the next time around.
This is all about education to enable people to make informed choices plus a time limitation to focus minds and discourage dithering - say 31 December 2011 at the latest (for example) to use-it or lose-it.
“Or is this why we need an umbrella CIC?”
The thinking behind the umbrella CIC role is certainly informed by the last decade of community broadband delivery at the sharp end Chris
Most folks most of the time just want their broadband, telly, phone to work - what NextGenUs offers is a way of the local community handing over ownership and responsibility, safe in the knowledge that their interests are protected by external CIC regulation.
“I may be playing devil’s advocate here before someone else pops up with these questions… ”
Absolutely fine - it is only by rigorous challenge that the stongest case emerges.
“I can see the benefits but I can also see the pitfalls, as is generally the case.”
Sure we live in an unideal world!
“I would love a voucher scheme if everyone knew what real NGA was, but I fear many don’t.”
Don’t YET know what real NGA is… put buying power into the hands of the general public and they generally make a good fist of it - take the change4life £200M healthy eating scheme announced today as another precentend/example of vouchers in action.
“And I fear many don’t care, they just want something that works.”
That may be and were is the harm in asking? If nothing else then when people choose in haste and repent at leisure then at least they have had a choice and cannot really blame others/government in future if they not happy with their broadband come 2012/15.
“They are sitting ducks to fall for cabinets, which won’t benefit the notspots and will increase the crapspots, but they won’t understand this.”
Depends on who exactly who the “they” are though as historically for ADSL the decisions were made in just the type of top-down Big Government knows best way as will happen unless local communities have real control over seeing their wishes implemented.
Without the voucher approach and taking the COmmunity Hub pathway that Jeremy Hunt MP announced on 6th December then for many communities that means “Cabs’R'Us” is inevitable anyhow.
At least going the 4U voucher way gives folks the chance to choose.
Cheers,
Guy
I think the danger with vouchers is that many are so desperate they will settle for a quick fix. They will then be back in 5 years moaning. I don’t like big brother, but in this case I feel the champions have to protect their patches, and be available to advise people in their area and be aware of all the choices. (I think most are up to speed). The beauty of funding is that it can save a lot of work and energy being put into education and ‘selling’ a new service, funding means you can install it and it works and it sells itself.
The downside of funding is that it could be wasted on half wit solutions like BET or admin or is just handed over for a second rate solution like cabinets. It also drags out the whole job, as councils and RDAs are not noted for speed.
I think communities who are already geared up should jfdi.
They will be the ones who lead the way, and they will naturally be the ones who deserve to get on the main trunk first.
There is not enough money in this country to do the whole job, digitalbritain is bust, we have to build it ourselves with the help of people like Barry, Guy et al, and the sooner we get on with it the better. Funding is not the magic solution, and sometimes it is more trouble than it is worth.
Funding should definitely be spent on the trunk, getting that in place to the notspots is key to the whole solution. Whether it is done by vouchers and communities clubbing together or by a central CIC it matters not. But a remote community on dial up has to have a pipe. The end bit is affordable if folk want it. The premise equipment is cheaper than an xbox ffs. Fibre is a few pence a metre and most communities have men of grit who can dig it in. I got mine with one quick phone call and a kilometre of fibre was laid in a few hours. If I can do it anyone can.
chris
I have spent quite a lot of time and effort with another local community explaining why they can’t have adsl. We have tried satellite there, it won’t work. (south facing hills) we have tried mobile. it won’t work. (no signal). Countless chats, emails, visits. I noticed on their website they were campaigning for infinity. Their webmaster is one of the most tech savvy in the village. Even she hasn’t grasped the fact that Infinity will never reach them in a million years. They aren’t in Cumbria and haven’t got a champion. There is no way BT will put 7 cabinets in their community for 27 homes. (that is what it would take on copper lines) And there is no way BT would run a fibre to them when the nearest is 4km away and the POP 15km away. I do honestly believe that people will fall for the hype, and so will the council. We have to amplify, I don’t think we have time to convince everyone, the BT propaganda is far too powerful. We have to get the networks in and working and they will speak for themselves. Loudly. The word will spread to Lancashire, Yorkshire and all the North.
We also have to concentrate on making sure whatever tender process comes out from the council/rdas/suits is fit for purpose, and not just a blueprint for cabinets. That is a job for champions. The reward will be that our time has been spent well, and we have changed the course of history, a bit like in the industrial revolution. The cost to get fibre to the above community via BT is mindboggling big, totally impossible to raise that amount of money, and the annual rental for a 100megabit pipe to share is around 20k pa, plus backhaul charges of around 20k pa. (working on what we have to pay in our village and adding a bit on for distance).
The solution is an affordable pump, and the rest can be done by the people with the help of this online community and all the clever folk who are contributing. Whether vouchers are the answer or not I don’t honestly know, but thanks for the explanation Guy. And Hector, I totally agree, none of the champions will fall for copper.
Chris,
“We have to get the networks in and working and they will speak for themselves. Loudly. The word will spread to Lancashire, Yorkshire and all the North.”
You are absolutely right and that is perhaps the most frustrating factor at the moment!
Over the course of 2011, NextGenUs is committed to building a further 20 FttH networks as pioneered in Ashby already.
The determining factor for making each investment (NB no public subsidy assumed) is the willingness of each community to step up en-masse and enable a sustainable durable network to be constructed at least upfront cost.
Each community then gets a future-proof 4th Utility that is owned and operated as a Social Enterprise in their interests according to CIC regulations.
The frustration, or perhaps better said as irony, in Cumbria is that the present uncertainty surrounding any proposed government intervention, what BDUK market testing actually means in Cumbria in other words, is actually acting to delay progress towards building the very local exemplar networks you describe!
The sooner we can all crack on and get the job done the better.
chris - what would an affordable pump cost to install and run?
What do you mean by trying NGA - who is doing this and what with?
I like the voucher idea as I like the thought that individuals can decide for themselves, but it does have some drawbacks. Chiefly, can we really allow a wide range of ‘solutions’, some future-proof on fibre and others on satellite, wireless or copper wires? I’m sure these drawbacks could be addressed, but is there time to look at all of the possible situations and develop a voucher system that would lead to a sensible local access network?
There may be time, but I expect others may be happier with a safer solution.
To this end, I think that there are some solutions that need to be at a very local level and others that require us to think (and act) Cumbria wide - joining up the local groups and local CICs.
At the local level the steering groups will almost certainly be non-paid volunteers, but to operate Cumbria wide will most likely require a commercial venture with full-time staff, whether a ‘traditional’ telecoms company or a CIC type company. Since many of the local groups have already formed CICs, then they would probably be most comfortable being under the ‘umbrella’ of another CIC type company at the Cumbria-wide level. In that case an obvious choice for a CIC with full-time staff and expertise would be NextGenUs, but I suspect they would need to upscale their operation and/or partner with others in order to bid Cumbria wide? Another important player could be Barry Forde, although I believe Barry would need to be tempted out of retirement to help us with any Cumbria wide organisation.
In short, many of us are working at a local level but we were told before Christmas to start thinking Cumbria-wide so we will need to organise and work out how we can work together to achieve the best for Cumbria and our local communities. The alternative is likely to be us sitting back and letting somebody win the bid for the Cumbria-wide funding, and then we are left negotiating with them from a substantially weaker position.
These thoughts may be slightly jumbled, but hopefully will stimulate discussion of how we organise ourselves in Cumbria.
John,
You hit all the important points there.
I agree with you that Barry Forde has a hugely positive role to play here and let’s do everything we can to tempt him out of retirement!
As regards 4U Vouchers, I agree that a real effort is required to educate people about the options available to them and I see that effort as being absolutely key to driving interest and demand for service which, in turn, is essential to deliver both a sustainable network and the key government objectives of being able to move services including telehealth online.
What vouchers do is force prospective suppliers to engage with every member of every local community and then match fund whatever solution is being offered.
The matter of technology neutrality is perhaps the biggest stumbling block as it fails to recognise that not all technologies are equal in present and future capability.
It is not beyond the wit of man to devise a simple weighting scheme for each proposed solution, as part of a voucher system, that recognises these differences and rewards appropriately.
On a personal level I have a “dream team” in mind to actually make things happen in Cumbria and I’m not precious that this has to happen via any one route
e.g. NextGenUs would be happy to form a subsidiary that is Cumbria focused if that is what folks prefer to have more local steerage.
What matters is seizing the opportunity and reshaping the terms of trade by creating a future-proof FttH network that is owned and operated in the interests of those who will be paying the bill.
Certainly NextGenUs is in the process of scaling up to deliver what is required as an umbrella CIC as this is part of our business plan anyway.
IF there is a genuine opportunity available to move forwards via the proposed BDUK market testing funding then we will and that is far from certain and won’t become clear until such time as further info becomes public from CCC/BDUK.
In terms of partnering with a wider consortium please see http://www.nextgenus.net/ncc.pdf - this is open to support by everyone who can either help realise the NextGenUs vision or who stands to benefit from it.
Hi Guy,
Just looked-up your link and this is a large document - you’ve obviously put some work into this and I will read through it carefully. A key issue for me is the flexibility for some issues to be decided locally and others more centrally. Your document may answer some of this, but I expect further discussion - could be we all want the same thing and a central solution would suit!
Guy - the voucher scheme is just a discount off the installation cost isn’t it or am I missing something?
Peter,
The 4U Voucher approach is rather more than a discount off the installation cost!
The key purpose of the vouchers is to empower everyone who will be saddled with the solution to have a meaningful say in what is delivered.
A voucher weighting factor (“extra third for the final third”) provides an incentive for each community to agree a parish-wide solution whilst providing a benefit to those for whom a 2 way satellite feed is the only viable option.
John - as an interested non local I agree that people will be happier with a larger organisation running this. I’m not convinced that that the majority of people will be interested in making a decision, and Guy, please don’t mention Big Society again, it’s a buzz word that means nothing to most people and is just designed to try and make us feel better!
Hi Somerset,
Just to be clear, I think there will be many who would be happier with a smaller, more local, organisation running things. But this is probably unrealistic when government and European funding is available, and because some wider reaching issues, such as backhaul, need to be addressed Cumbria wide.
My ideal solution would be a larger organisation able to secure the funding to build at least the backhaul network, but answerable to the small communities and with small comunities able to make some decisions and priorities for themselves.
Because the funding available is many tens of millions of pounds for Cumbria, there will be commercial players who are interested in building or operating the backhaul network. We could leave them to it, or we could look for a better solution where they work under a CIC or bid in partnership with a CIC and that may provide a better offer for all in Cumbria. It could even be attractive to the commercial companies as they may get significantly better take-up than when operating on a purely commercial footing.
I would also see a significant advantage for any large organisation in working with the local steering groups and helping to ensure the local access networks are built to make use of the backhaul they are providing.
Spot on John.
Guy - how do you make it sound not like a discount and who decides the weighting factor? ‘Empower’ everyone, oh dear…
Chris is convinced that enough people can be found to dig the 3780km at little or no cost, do others agree?
Hi Somerset,
I can recognise that the weighting factor for any voucher scheme is a controversial issue - not least because I would only be happy with 100% weighting for fibre. Yes I am that biased, although I would argue that this is a goal for a network that will equip us for the future.
As for digging, I hope and expect that we can get enough community spirit to do a good deal of digging. It should help to bring some communities together and get some of us a little fitter. Indeed if I quote an obituary for Thor Heyerdahl found in several newspapers at his death in 2002 “Heyerdahl stayed trim and dapper into old age, his appearance aided by his daily practice (even as an octogenarian) of digging a large hole in his garden with a pick and a shovel.” I just found this quote at http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/obituaries-thor-heyerdahl-500431.html
but I’m not sure where I first read it!
In practice much of the digging may be mechanised, but I will be diappointed if I don’t do a hundred metres or more personally. Some of it helping less able-bodied neighbours or neighbours who are able but more remote.
It would be like the old hay-making days, great fun but hard work and nice when it’s over!
I may appear a romantic fool, but all of those who have signed the petition on this site have similar views and that is most of the members of this site. Hopefully word will spread and much of rural Cumbria will mobilise. More than that I like to be inclusive so perhaps digging in our fibre cables could be a tourist activity this Summer!
OK perhaps I should stop now…
John - Good news! You only need to dig 164m. 3780km/23,000 properties = 164m/property. Less if there is someone else in your home who can help.
Hi Somerset,
That doesn’t sound too bad to me. At a modest 12 m per day we could have it all done in two weeks!
Realistically the majority will be done by mechanised diggers or ploughs, so I expect the digging by hand to be more limited. If others in my house (wife & kids) don’t help then they will be making cakes and tea and I will need to dig more to burn off the calories….
Me and the lass next door got over 1000 metres dug in. We are not professionals, nor are we rich. Two more neighbours joined in half way through, and shared the cost and dug their own bit, it was relatively easy, it took less than 24 hours spread over 3 days. We paid professional diggers and we were helped by two other jfdi professionals. I won’t say who they are or it may embarrass them.
O go on then, Lucid lit our fibre and NexgenUs supplied it. They put their money where their mouths are to see if community jedi could DoIT. and we did. And everyone else can too. The future is in our hands. Literally. And many hands make LIGHT WORK.
Let’s light the fibre. No dark slow lane for us. If a job is worth doing its worth doing right. As me gran used to say.