Access to high speed broadband is not a luxury but an
essential for life in the Yorkshire Dales these days as it provides access to
services and makes living and working in a remote area possible.
- Completing tax returns
- Farmers completing DEFRA forms
- Claimants accessing benefits
- School children and students studying
- Running a business or working from home
- People working from home
Listed above are just some of the activities made possible
with high quality broadband and it’s clear that without it, house prices are
depressed and people have to make extra journeys.
The Government is committed to providing high quality
broadband to as many people as possible and is working in partnership with
local authorities to deliver this.
In North Yorkshire for example this involves bringing fibre
broadband to the local telephone cabinets (FTC) and then using the existing
telephone wires to provide Superfast broadband to nearby properties. See www.superfastnorthyorkshire.com/wherewhen
to find out if you are on the (FTC) network.
However; this is where the problem start as the rules of
physics mean that FTC is limited to 1.2 Km from the cabinet so many Dales communities
require other solutions.
Satellite
is
one solution and its available everywhere but is expensive both to install and
operate as capacity on satellites is limited and the technology suffers from
delay or lag as the communications have to travel to and from a satellite
orbiting the earth.
Fibre to
the premises (FTP) Some Dales communities are pulling together to
bring fibre broadband to their individual homes and businesses. This includes the
communities of Dent and Garsdale area where local people have formed www.digitaldales.com This is
similar to Broadband for the Rural North http://b4rn.org.uk which is
installing fibre to rural communities in north Lancashire and is now planning on
extending their network to communities across the border in the southern Dales
in partnership with the local communities concerned see www.claphamhyperfast.net
However fibre to the premises is expensive to install and a
third solution is now providing high quality broadband for many Dales’
communities. Fixed Wireless Broadband
(FWB) uses wireless technology to bridge the gap between the fibre broadband networks
and individual premises. FWB is being
deployed in the Dales by three Yorkshire based companies and several communities’
enterprises. The commercial companies include L N Communications www.lncomms.co.uk of
Yeadon who have an expanding network in the Nidderdale AONB and in the
Yorkshire Dales National Park in Wharfedale and Ribblesdale as well around
Skipton. Crabtree Hall www.crabtreecommunity.com of
Hackforth near Leeming who are developing a network in Lower Wensleyday and
Bedale and Clannet Broadband www.clannet.co.uk of Biggin
near Selby who are developing a network around the Scotch Corner area as an
extension of their Vale of Mowbray network. Finally there is www.kencomp.net from Kendal in Cumbria
which has a small network in the Mallerstang area.
Two Dales community enterprises have also developed their own
FWB networks; Reeth Rural Radio www.swaledale.org and the Austwick
Community Broadband Association http://austwick.org
It’s wonderful to see the gradual organic growth of the FWB
across the Dales especially when it reaches some of the most remote farms in
the area at the very top of Nidderdale and Littondale which are way beyond the
BT FTC network.
It is also fantastic to see how local people are getting
involved to make this all happen, working with the Wireless Broadband companies,
Superfast North Yorkshire and Rural Action Yorkshire’s Community Broadband
Development Officer to build and promote the new Fixed Wireless broadband
networks.
Key to the development of the networks are the provision of
small wireless repeaters that are mounted on high points, which are required as
the technology works on line of sight between repeaters. It’s great to see
farmers, local churches and residents all being willing to host repeaters, thereby
serving the common good of the whole community, reducing the digital divide and
making the Yorkshire Dales fit for the 21st Century.
