Communities and Businesses pull together to bring Superfast Broadband to the Yorkshire Dales

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 21^st Century.

To find out what’s available in your area see the maps at www.superfastnorthyorkshire.com/ws-maps