Saturday 29 December 2012

What a Year!

What a year it has been for Fibre GarDen, it's Members and helpers, a big thank you to everyone, past and present, who have helped to move the project forward to where it is today.

Some of the biggest steps have been taken in the last month or so having now published our State Aid Notice; our Invitation to Tender will be ready to be published on the 1st February following the end of the Sate Aid Notice period and our Share Offer document is now drafted and ready for scrutiny by our lawyers and accountants before publication.

We secured additional resources for the project by engaging Mark Jameson who has worked on the Invitation to Tender with John Colton, and Tom Woof who is working (even over the seasonal break) with Andrew Fleck; our Land Agents and Garsdale Design on securing all the required wayleave agreements.

We are very grateful for the continuing support from (to name a few):
  • Tim Farron MP
  • Kevin Lancaster
  • Cumbria County Council
  • South Lakeland District Council
  • Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale Neighbourhood Forum
  • Dent Parish Council
  • Garsdale Parish Council
  • Garsdale Design
  • DEFRA
  • BDUK
  • Yorkshire Dales National Park
  • United Utilities
In 2013 we should see all the funding come together and the start of the network build!

Friday 21 December 2012

State Aid Notice

Fibre Garden have now published their required State Aid Notice. This represents a significant milestone in the development of the project. The notice comes into effect from today until the 30th January 2013 to allow extra time over the seasonal break.

The next stage of this part of the project is to publish an Invitation to Tender (ITT) on the 1st February 2013. This is now in the final stages of drafting.

Thursday 20 December 2012

Tom Woof

Tom Woof, who comes from a well known local family, old-Sedberghian and Cambridge law graduate, joins the Fibre Garden Team for the next few months whilst on a gap year to assist the project in securing the required wayleaves in both dales.

Tom's local knowledge will be an extremely valuable addition to our resources, he will be working directly with the Chairman and our land agents during his time with us.

Welcome aboard Tom!

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Potential New Members

Fibre Garden met with several potential new members of the main Board and wider support group last night following the departure of two founder members due to business commitments and personal reasons and one from ill health. An outline of the project to date was given followed, as you would expect, by a wide range of probing questions on various aspects of the project. Much support was forthcoming and a second meeting will be held in early January to confirm appointments.

If you would like to offer some support to the project, however little, then please do get in touch through the contact details on this blog.

Thursday 13 December 2012

BT sign contract for Cumbria

Readers may well be interested in this press release from BT that outlines the intentions of both BT and Cumbria County Council.  Please note that neither Garsdale or Dentdale are in the 93% so the best residents of those two Dales can expect from BT is 2Mb and some of that may well be via satellite. It is also the view of many that the 93% will reduce over the period of the contract due to unforeseen costs and other difficulties. 

Sunday 9 December 2012

Rural Broadband Speeds

Broadband speeds in rural areas are less than half those in the UK's towns and cities, while Omagh in Northern Ireland is the worst connected area for basic broadband coverage, according to analysis of official data.

Note that they are talking about the 'broadband speeds', and hence perhaps only consider the speeds of those who can actually receive broadband to then give the average broadband speed. This is noted in some of the comments below, and actual connection speeds could be significantly slower if non-broadband connections were also included.

Best regards,
John Colton

Thursday 6 December 2012

Stop Taking the Credit

An interesting article in the Computer Weekly, much talk and not much action according to them. It is a long and difficult process but they need to get a move on!
It has been a very busy past couple of weeks in Fibre Garden pushing forward on many fronts. We have reached a milestone in that our State Aide notice is drafted and currently being scrutinised before publication on our website and this blog, to be followed a month later by our Invitation to Tender for the project requirements.

In parallel to this we are working closely with our legal and taxation advisers to be able to publish our share offer early in the New Year. This will then confirm the amount of funding available to meet the building of the fibre network through Garsdale and Dentdale; this time next year it could be in the ground!

If you need any information about the Fibre Garden project please do email admin@fibre-garden.co.uk and or leave comments on this blog as appropriate.

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Connection Speeds

Do you complain about your connection speeds? Take a moment to read this article that sets out just who is complaining to who. No need for such statistics when using fibre!

More Superfast Cities

Note this article from the BBC in which the Chancellor announces ten for cities are to get funding for superfast broadband

Friday 23 November 2012

Is there a Doctor online?

100,000 to get 'doctor by broadband' in 2013

Up to 100,000 people will be able to use the internet to manage their health problems from their own homes next year, in a move ministers hope will stop “the constant merry-go-round” of medical appointments. An interesting article in the Telegraph and just one of the many services that can be delivered down fibre.

Tuesday 20 November 2012

Keep Informed

Don't forget to keep informed about the very latest developments in Fibre Garden you can subscribe to this blog via yours RSS Feeder or email. You can also subscribe to our email list which enables us to keep in direct contact with our communities by submitting your email address through the Subscribe page.

Monday 19 November 2012

Britain's Slowest Broadband

This is an interesting article from the Rural Services Network on the top 50 slowest broadband streets in Britain.  Looking at the comments following the article there appears to be some dispute on the data but I think it paints a reasonable picture.

Sunday 18 November 2012

VOTE TODAY!

Dear Cumbrian Residents,

Today is the last chance for you to help make a difference - PLEASE - Place your vote for John Colton on the website here as follows http://www.talktalk.co.uk/digitalheroes/vote-map.php

Support for the superfast broadband efforts of the residents of Dentdale and Garsdale has been coming from all quarters. The community should be proud of what has been achieved to date and the recognition that has been given in the local and national press and at the highest levels of government with the announcement of our grant award by the DEFRA Secretary of State Rt Hon Owen Patterson MP when he visited Garsdale in September 2012. We still have much to do and many challenges to overcome, but our community spirit has never been higher.
Tim Farron MP has been especially helpful by nominating John Colton, Technical Director of our community not for profit company Fibre Garden for the Talk Talk Digital Heroes Awards and encouraging people to vote for John. There is the chance that we can win a £5,000 contribution to our general funds for the FTTH rollout. We need your support.


LAST CHANCE - VOTING CLOSES Sunday 18th November 2012


A VOTE FOR SOUTH LAKELAND AND CUMBRIA SUPPORT YOUR DIGITAL HERO
TALK TALK DIGITAL HEROES AWARDS 2012

NORTH WEST REGION FINALIST – JOHN COLTON
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, FIBRE GARDEN
Resident of Garsdale, Cumbria and Fibre Garden’s Technical Director, John Colton has been nominated as North West Region Finalist for the Talk Talk Digital Heroes Awards 2012.

Talk Talk, in association with Citizens Online and the Mirror Newspaper Group, for the fifth year running have sponsored the Awards celebrating inspirational people who use digital technology to benefit their community. The winner is decided by a public vote with an awards ceremony at the House of Commons in London.

Thursday 15 November 2012

Casterton Area

Members of the Fibre Garden Team, lead by Jock Cairns, met with representatives from the Casterton area last night. This was a follow on meeting from the one recently held where a number of surrounding communities came to a presentation about the options open to them to be part of the Fiber Garden extend network.

Ken and Enid came with many questions but left with even more and slightly daunted by the task ahead noting the small window of opportunity to apply for BDUK/DEFRA funding. A broad range of information was exchanged and we very much look forward to working more closely with the Casterton Community in the coming months.

Saturday 10 November 2012

Hope Springs in the Digital Desert

Geoffrey Lean, a journalist who writes for the Telegraph, was holidaying in Grisdale and became aware of Fibre GarDen's plans to bring fibre optic superfast broadband to our two Dales, he contacted us for more information and the result is this article in the Telegraph today! A number of photos were sent but they decided to use a stock one from the internet so I have added ours here showing some of the team outside Garsdale Village Hall. For those who have a printed copy we are on page 30.

From the left Stefan Kosciuszko, Andrew Fleck (Chair), Tony Roberts, Anne Fleck.

Friday 9 November 2012

Broadband Communities

We came across this interesting slide from the Strategic Networks Group, which is part of a much more comprehensive presentation on the impacts of broadband. The survey behind this demonstrates the importance and urgent need of broadband for everyone, it's part in the revival of the economy and sustainability, especially in rural communities.


Thursday 8 November 2012

FIA Newsletter

The Fibre Garden project has a mention in this edition of the Fibre Industry Newsletter (see us on page 3). Yet more recognition of the importance of the project and what has been achieved so far; still much to do!

Friday 2 November 2012

Cumbria 24

The support continues to grow for John Colton in the TalkTalk Digital Awards, this article on the Cumbria 24 blog provides much background to the Award and support for John.

If you have not already voted then please do so before the 18th November!

Tuesday 30 October 2012


A VOTE FOR SOUTH LAKELAND AND CUMBRIA SUPPORT YOUR DIGITAL HERO
TALK TALK DIGITAL HEROES AWARDS 2012

NORTH WEST REGION FINALIST – JOHN COLTON
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, FIBRE GARDEN
Resident of Garsdale, Cumbria and Fibre Garden’s Technical Director, John Colton has been nominated as North West Region Finalist for the Talk Talk Digital Heroes Awards 2012.

Talk Talk, in association with Citizens Online and the Mirror Newspaper Group, for the fifth year running have sponsored the Awards celebrating inspirational people who use digital technology to benefit their community. The winner is decided by a public vote with an awards ceremony at the House of Commons in London.

Voting for the winner has now opened and South Lakeland and Cumbrian residents are encouraged to support your local “Digital Hero”. The relevant website to voteis here

ACT QUICKLY - VOTING CLOSES 18th November 2012
Full Press release here...

News from Tim Farron MP

MP URGES SOUTH LAKELAND TO VOTE FOR ‘DIGITAL HERO’ JOHN COLTON

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has called on local residents to help him make local resident John Colton Talk Talk’s Digital Hero for 2012.

John is a Founding Member and Technical Director of Fibre Garden, a community broadband company managed by volunteers that was established two years ago to develop a superfast broadband network in the rural communities of Garsdale and Dentdale in South Cumbria.
Recently the Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs visited Garsdale to announce that the community is one of the first two to get an agreement-in-principle for a Rural Community Broadband Fund grant. Pending some conditions being filled by the community-led project, 525 premises will be connected to superfast broadband following a Government investment of £157,500.
John's colleagues at FibreGarden say: "John's passion and leadership have been critical in developing the founding principles of a digital network with 100% inclusivity, fully future proofed, and under community ownership. John has worked selflessly with other communities in Cumbria to help explain the benefits of FTTH, producing the business and technical models to support the company's plans and tirelessly attending hours of community meetings and suppliers discussions to ensure the best possible outcomes."

Tim said: “The Digital Heroes Awards were designed to recognise and reward those who use digital technology to make a difference in their communities. John is the person who best exemplifies that. Having worked with him and others on the broadband scheme I know he is a worthy winner – please support him and help give a local person the national recognition they deserve.”

Sunday 28 October 2012

Our Neighbours

Members of the Fibre Garden Board met with some of our surrounding communities on Saturday to discuss possible options of working together to look at the expansion of the Fibre to the Home Broadband network. Jock Carins chaired the meeting held at Lucid Optical Services in Garsdale.

A presentation was given outlining the Fibre Garden project and how this can be expanded through collaborative working. Individual follow up meetings with representatives from each community are expected later this month.

Saturday 27 October 2012

Friday 26 October 2012

Start Voting

The TalkTalk Digital Heroes Awards are now open for voting! Follow this link to make your vote for our very own John Colton who is a very deserving candidate.

Please spend a couple of minutes to vote!!

Thursday 25 October 2012

Our Neighbours

Members of the Fibre GarDen team are meeting with a number of neighbouring communities on Saturday to:
  • Provide an outline of the project
  • Explain the product
  • How to make it happen
  • What are the technical issues?
  • How to finance
  • What are the operational issues?
  • How can we and what are the benefits of working together?
We are looking forward to a productive meeting that could be the start of some long and fruitful business and community relationships.

Monday 22 October 2012

Fibre Garden Board Meets

The Fibre Garden Board will meet later this week to address a number of pressing issues that will see the project progress further.

Some of the key points are reviewing the legal structure, to ensure it's robust and conforms to all current legislation to permit the rasing of funds through a share issue and the expansion of the network to neighbouring communities.

There is much work continuing in the background to drive this project forward.

Monday 15 October 2012

Dr Peter Cochrane for NextGen TV

Dr Peter Cochrane talks about his presentation at the Next Gen Conference, the bigger picture and doing things in a new and different way. 

Friday 12 October 2012

NextGen 12 conference in Westminster




Conference Report by John Colton:

The two days of talks and debate about future broadband kicked-off with a typically lively presentation by Peter Cochrane, ex-CTO of BT, which highlighted the way the world is changing due to technology and how we will have to think and work in different ways. Information and the communication of information will be key to this and our future success as a country. Peter pointed out that objectors suggest that there is no proven demand for future services, but this is always the case with anything new. For this new vision we need fast broadband, 1 Gb/s both upstream and down, hence symmetrical. Peter also pointed out that nothing else provides what optical fibre can do, and that if we don’t stop talking and get on and build the [FTTP] networks “then frustration will rapidly migrate to full economic disadvantage and disablement”.

By contrast, later in the day Liv Garfield, CEO Openreach (BT’s access network arm), suggested that in their labs they had not been able to replicate a situation where a typical family could not do everything they needed to do with just 24 Mb/s. Additionally she felt the demand was all downstream with upstream being significantly less important. Liv did however qualify this by acknowledging that future needs would almost certainly require higher speeds and so we should absolutely plan to install for higher speeds. There was also an acknowledgement from Liv that BT’s main rollout of FTTC technology will not work well in rural areas, not something an admission I’d ever heard from BT before.

These views are in some ways poles apart, and they are in some ways matched by the views of delegates at the event with all acknowledging that we will all need FTTP, but some feeling that FTTC is a step on the journey whilst others feel the slower FTTC shows a lack of ambition and invariably delays the inevitable FTTP. The economics and cost arguments are paramount, but seem to take little account of the future.

To just pick out here two talks is unfair to other presentations which were good and interesting, but to save time (for me and the reader) I will just list some soundbites:

  • Digital inclusion is important and the digital divide is in some ways growing.
  • Engaging with the digital world will be important to all people and professions with farmers and other traditionally non-digital technology industries highlighted. 
  • The digital divide is in both infrastructure and user/population engagement. 
  • Some feel the population engagement is key as it drives demand – they feel the infrastructure is getting the attention “there’s no point in building motorways if most people can’t drive cars”.
  • There was no real disagreement - most felt we should do more to encourage those who have not engaged with computers or the digital world, but equally it holds true that people won’t learn to drive if there are no roads to drive on. 
  • In Sweden they believe in ‘open networks’ which is quite different from ‘open access’ and effectively means that each company uses each others infrastructure and saves on duplication of build costs. This leads to reduced costs, increased competition and hence choice and lower prices for the customers. One Swedish service provider pointed out that although they sell direct to consumers 80% of their income is from their competitors renting dark fibre from them. 
  • The Swedish delegates pointed out that they felt the economic argument was over- played in the UK. They said that in the future everything would be connected and the infrastructure was for society so just needed to be built. 
  • In Sweden customers are now more concerned by broadband outages than power cuts! 
  • Some interesting statistics on use of mobile devices.
  • Now more than 81 million mobiles phones registered in the UK compared with less than 10 million in 1997 (15 years ago).
  • 51% of mobile phones are now ‘smart phones’ with huge computing power.
  • now more calls on mobile phones than land-lines.
  • 90% of more mobile tablet PC use is in the home.
  • telephone call traffic is reducing slightly.
  • biggest growth is in data usage – predictions of huge increases in mobile date use in the next few years.
  • 4G mobile masts will replace 3G, but by upgrade first 
  •  new masts in rural areas are very difficult.
  • low population density makes economics difficult:
    • installed to ‘fill-in’ or maintain service coverage
    • backhaul in rural areas is expensive to build
    • electrical supply in rural areas also often has large civils cost


Lord Inglewood who is the chair of the House of Lords Communications Committee gave a presentation on the report they had produced on broadband in the UK and the government’s approach. This was well received, but with some criticism from some quarters. Fibre GarDen contributed evidence to the committee, and when I met Lord Inglewood at the event he was familiar with our project and appeared keen to take me up on an offer to visit us and see our group. Both Andrew and Stefan from fibre GarDen were names instantly suggested by Lord Inglewood and his clerk as being involved with our project, suggesting that our contributions were perhaps even more prominent than we had previously known.

Aside from the techy discussions on speeds and the economics questions, it is apparent that digital exclusion and the problems it will cause is a very hot topic now. In my view however the solutions so far put forward are constrained by the dire financial situation we are in and will therefore do little to address the issues. On speaker asked council representatives how they would help to get people online and engaged with the digital world – did they have a plan? To me this is another area where it is not councils who will take the lead, although they may have a role to play, it is the wider community with all of us helping and encouraging neighbours, but until we build the infrastructure in rural areas it will be hard to get our neighbours excited about something they can’t use at home!

Thursday 11 October 2012

FTTH Council Europe cheers Spain, scolds the UK

October 10, 2012

In the latest update to the Fiber to the Home Council’s FTTH ranking, Spain is one of the fastest growing fiber nations in Europe while the UK is the slowest. The FTTH Council Europe offered a preview of its official data at the NextGen 12 conference in London ahead of the official announcement next week.

Spain is one of two new countries to join the European FTTH ranking this time around, the other being Luxembourg. That brings the total number of countries in Europe with more than 1% of households subscribing directly to fiber connections to 22 out of a possible 39 (the ranking also includes Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, or CIS).

Overall there are now about 5.95 million FTTH subscribers in the EU35 countries and the study also counted a further 6.3 million in the CIS region. This corresponds to a modest increase of about 16% in the number of subscribers connected across the EU35 during the first six months of 2012.

To put this into context, the Asia Pacific region had 58 million FTTH subscribers at the end of June 2012, while the FTTH Council North America recently announced that the number of FTTH subscribers on that continent had passed 9 million (see “FTTH Council Americas releases FTTH market numbers”). Europe is still a minor actor on the world stage when it comes to FTTH.

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Rural Broadband Get Green Light from EU

The UK's rural rollout of fast broadband has been given a boost as the EU competition commissioner approved the state-funded scheme.

Read the full BBC article...

Friday 5 October 2012

Fibre GarDen is through to the final of the TalkTalk Digital Heroes awards! Our Technical Director, John Colton, is the nominated person and has now been asked for some PR pictures and quotation.

You will will shortly be able to start voting for him!

Thursday 4 October 2012

FibreGarden will be represented at this years NextGen 12 Conference by John Colton, our Technical Director. 


This will be the third year of attendance and it provides a good opportunity to catch up on some of the latest thinking and to network with other community representatives and potential suppliers. John will be reporting from the Conference and you can catch up with his comments here!


Monday 1 October 2012

Digital Heroes Update

We have submitted our application to TalkTalk Digital Heroes prompted and nominated by Tim Farron MP, you will soon be able to vote to support us.
Application submitted:

There are three key questions on the form to be answered as follows:
  • Provide a description of the Group, its objectives, mission statement, history and how it has developed
Fibre GarDen is a community company established to deliver a fully inclusive future-proofed fibre to the home (FTTH) broadband network in Garsdale and Dentdale, two dales located in South-East Cumbria, close to the North Yorkshire and Lancashire boundaries and inside the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

This has been a joint endeavour as we recognized early on that combining our resources and efforts would be beneficial to the residents and businesses of both dales. It has the approval and support of both Parish Councils and the not for profit community broadband company has been established with a strong volunteer management team with combined experience in finance, marketing, fibre optic technology, education, health provision, and farming services.

The project is ambitious, as its aim is not simply to increase rural broadband speeds, but to demonstrate how economic disadvantage and social exclusion can be overcome in a rural area by the provision of future-proof Next Generation Access (NGA) broadband. In order to achieve its goals, it will harness community support and action alongside government investment and commercial partnership.

The volunteer management team has now been working nearly two years with DEFRA, Broadband UK (BDUK), Cumbria County Council and Tim Farron MP to achieve the key first funding from the government as a foundation stone to enable this project.
  • Provide a description of the project, new or existing, what is it hoping to achieve, how many people affected, evidence of success to date, how it fits in with what the charity as a whole is working towards
A detailed business plan has been developed which informs that a 60km FTTH network connecting the two dales and 500+ premises will be constructed with a community organisational and digging effort and farmers’ community spirit. This is fully costed to a high technical standard including network installation, fibre cabling and fibre types, installation and fusion splicing, telephony, quality of service, infrastructure services and ongoing management thereof.

The network that is created will provide a 100% fibre optic cable to all properties and businesses, and thus be fully future-proofed; enable initial broadband speeds of  40Mbps and 100 Mbps, with the option for Gb/s service in the future depending upon need and growth in demand, thereby enabling enabling the most advanced business, education, media, healthcare, tourism and agricultural usage and applications in a rural setting.

Success to date includes active engagement with our community through meetings, a regular blogspot with positive feedback, an initial intention by over 60% of our premises to take up the service and indication of an investment amount in excess of £200,000 that can be raised from individuals within the community through a community share issue to finance the project. Furthermore on the 12th September the Secretary of State, The Rt. Hon. Owen Paterson MP visited Garsdale to announce that Fibre Garden would be the first Rural Broadband Pilot in Cumbria to receive a £157,500 grant under the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) scheme. 

We have also received recognition from Cumbria County Council and BDUK as follows:

“Cumbria County Council regards fibre GarDen CIC’s planned FTTP local network as an important part of the overall broadband strategy for Cumbria. The significant efforts of fibre GarDen CIC have been instrumental in achieving the best possible outcome for the pan-County rollout and the successful construction of their network will be a valuable contribution to the provision of superfast broadband in the county”

Alan Cook, Project Manager, Cumbria County Council
"Fibre GarDen’s help in exploring ways in which communities can actively support suppliers to deliver superfast broadband access to deeply rural areas has been extremely useful in helping us develop a number of potential products for communities in similar locations across the country to utilize”
Robert Sullivan , Chief Executive, Broadband Delivery UK

This is significant as Cumbria is a location where 18% of properties do not have access to at least 2Mbps broadband at present, reflecting the rural nature of much of the County. 

For us it means an end to rural digital poverty, the opportunity to revitalise our communities, and the most exciting and ambitious infrastructure project since the construction of the railways 150 years ago transformed national communications for our dales. 

Furthermore the effect will not be limited to the 500 premises that will be served by this initial network as we are already reaching out to surrounding communities who have expressed an interest to join us in this endeavour and extend our community network to their areas. In addition the project will have the potential to impact upon the 20,000 people who live and work in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the over 8 million tourists that visit every year.   
  • Why do they deserve it? What great work have they done, what evidence is there in their impact, what else can be achieved if they get the £5,000 grant
John Colton, Technical Director of Fibre Garden has been the driving force on the project since its inception and critical in bringing together our two dales. He is widely acknowledged as one of the UK's leading experts on fibre optic technology and runs a training centre in Garsdale that includes instruction given to telecommunications companies from the UK and internationally.

He has that unique ability to translate potentially complex matters into simple to understand messages that can be readily taken forward by other culture carriers into the community. His modesty, self effacing nature and good humour have all been critical aspects of the success to date in keeping the whole volunteer team on course to achieve success. He has worked for several thousands of hours on the business model and technical features of our project, cajoling and encouraging suppliers to offer us the best deals on equipment. 

He was instrumental in encouraging the consideration and current evaluation of our innovative possible backhaul solution, provided by Network Rail Telecoms via fibre optic cable along the Settle- Carlisle railway line. If this pilot is adopted, and successful, this will provide a blueprint for rural communities across the nation. His passion and conviction is second to none and must be recognised by your judges not just in a regional context, but also a national one. He will apply the grant to furthering the objectives of our project and in particular helping to explain to those less advantaged about how a FTTH service will transform their lives in the future.

The Telegraph

Fast broadband more important to house buyers than parking

Homebuyers now rank a fast broadband connection above off-street parking and local amenities when considering a new property, a poll reveals. Read the full article

Also see this article from Uswitch

Wednesday 26 September 2012

BDUK Visit

Adrian Wooster of BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK) drove up from Oxford yesterday in the terrible weather for a meeting with Fibre Garden to discuss the required procurement exercise that will be needed for the project.

His advice was greatly appreciated but not the resultant work that will be required to complete this!

Saturday 22 September 2012

Rural areas are being held back by ‘outrageously’ slow broadband


It’s no secret that many rural areas have been left out in the cold when it comes to broadband deployment and infrastructure upgrades. This was supported by a study conducted by the Federation of Small Businesses, which revealed that over 60% of rural businesses suffered from slow broadband speeds.

John Walker, National Chairman of the FSB, stated: “These figures show that many rural firms are still unable to access basic broadband to run their business effectively. It shouldn’t matter where a business is located. With the technology we have today all firms should be able to trade overseas, throughout the UK, and from town to village.”

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson agrees. He emphasised the need for better broadband access in order to invigorate and improve the rural economy. He also made the promise to ‘revolutionalise’ these rural regions by relaxing the planning rules and pushing for broadband rollouts.

Secretary Paterson stated that his priority was speeding up rural broadband. He stated: “The internet has the power to overcome the problem of rural isolation. It can revolutionise rural job opportunities, community life and the whole rural economy. The internet has the power to overcome the problem of rural isolation. It can revolutionise rural job opportunities, community life and the whole rural economy.”

He added: “It’s outrageous that there are still parts of the country where the internet is still painfully slow because they haven’t got broadband yet. I’ve lived in a rural area all my life, so no one needs to tell me that rural England has been was neglected by governments for far too long.”

BT masks ‘unjustified’ doubling of Final Third broadband bill

BT is trying to disguise its true costs to supply next generation broadband to the Final Third by adding overheads, new job types and not reducing costs where these jobs are already accounted for.

If BT’s proposals are accepted, local authorities could pay almost twice the actual costs, and BT will not have to match public funds with its own.

In addition to direct and planning costs, BT asks for state aid to cover “Availability payments” and bonuses for customer connections. Based on a financial model (see table below) of a 20% take-up from 100,000 homes passed, this would raise the public contribution to BT’s roll-out from £11.4m to £22m.

BDUK’s CEO Robert Sullivan declined to be interviewed on the apparent doubling of roll-out costs, saying he was “not allowed to” speak to the press. However, in response to a question from Br0kenTeleph0n3, he told a Westminister e-Forum conference the reference financial model is critical to setting a comparable starting point for all BDUK-funded procurements. Insuring that local authorities received value for money is an important part of BDUK’s value-add, but it is a complex regulatory issue, he said.

An internal BDUK discussion paper seen by Br0kenTeleph0n3 shows the DCMS agency preparing to question BT’s financial proposals for its fibre to the cabinet roll-out in the Final Third.

The proposals aim to justify BT’s claim for state aid for bringing access to broadband speeds above 2Mbps for download to people living in areas considered commercially unviable under a BDUK procurement framework. The BDUK analysis aims to establish a challenge to the value for money offered by BT’s proposals.

Friday 21 September 2012

Cumbria Social Enterprise

Fibre GarDen has been registered on the Cumbria Social Enterprise site where you can find many other such community groups in the South Lakeland Area and further.

Thursday 20 September 2012

Ultra HD TV Needs 1000Mbps

This is an interesting article on Ultra HD TV that is coming our way but needs 1000Mbps broadband for it to be delivered. Lets get ready for it!

Tuesday 18 September 2012

TalkTalk Digital Heroes Awards


Tim Farron MP recommends Fibre GarDen for the TalkTalk Digital Heroes Awards 

The TalkTalk Digital Heroes Awards, with Citizens Online, is the UK’s only competition recognising people who harness digital technology to bring about positive social change in their communities.

Now in its fifth year, the awards, in association with Citizens Online and The Mirror - and supported by Go ON UK - offer people a chance to win funding for a new or existing digital projects.

Twelve projects from around the country will be awarded a £5,000 grant, with one overall winner getting £10,000. And this year we launch a new category for children and young people aged up to 18 years, with the Young Digital Hero receiving £4,000 for their chosen charity and an Apple MacBook Air.

It's decided by a public vote, with an awards ceremony at the House of Commons in London. 

“WIRED DALES” FIT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY


The dawn of an exciting new era is launched today with the visit by the Secretary of State for DEFRA, Owen Patterson MP and his announcement that Fibre Garden, the not for profit community broadband company for Garsdale and Dentdale, are to be the first Rural Broadband pilot in Cumbria to receive a £157,500 DEFRA grant under the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) scheme.

Fibre Garden’s team of volunteer Directors, empowered by their respective Parish Councils, has been working with DEFRA, Broadband UK (BDUK), Cumbria County Council and Tim Farron MP for the last two years. Securing this key funding enables the delivery of a fully inclusive, future-proofed fibre to the home (FTTH) superfast broadband network to every household in Garsdale and Dentdale. 

This landmark pilot scheme will offer service speeds of 40 Mbps and 100 Mbps, enabling the most advanced business, education, media, healthcare, tourism and agricultural usage and applications. An important element of the offering under evaluation is the proposed delivery of an innovative backhaul internet connection, provided by Network Rail Telecoms, via fibre optic cable along the Settle – Carlisle railway line. 

Andrew Fleck, Chairman of Fibre Garden commented “This is the most exciting and ambitious infrastructure project since the construction of the railways 150 years ago transformed national communications for our Dales. It means an end to digital poverty and a lasting opportunity to revitalise our communities. The community spirit and effort already demonstrated, and needed to complete this project, will be a testament to community self-determination and action. It is an example that we will be happy to share with other communities in the near future.”

John Colton, Technical Director of Fibre Garden commented “An investment in FTTH is an investment in our future with almost immediate payback in terms of connectivity, livelihoods and services. It represents the only really future proofed solution to deliver internet access, a utility that has become a daily feature of our lives, and will become increasingly all important in our wired digital world.”

Fibre Garden projects that after all procedures for final investment, wayleaves and procurement are executed, community digging of fibres will commence in the Spring of 2013 and a lighting up of the fibres by Christmas.
This has been a joint endeavour as we recognized early on that combining our resources and efforts would be beneficial to the residents and businesses of both dales. It has the approval and support of both Parish Councils and the company has been established with a strong volunteer management team with combined experience in finance, marketing, fibre optic technology, education, health provision, and farming services.

The project is ambitious, as its aim is not simply to increase rural broadband speeds, but to demonstrate how economic disadvantage and social exclusion can be overcome in a rural area by the provision of future-proof Next Generation Access (NGA) broadband. In order to achieve its goals, it will harness community support and action alongside government investment and commercial partnership.

A detailed business plan, supported by extensive evidence, has been developed which informs that a 60km network connecting the two dales and 500+ premises will be constructed with a community organisational and digging effort and farmers’ community spirit. This is fully costed to a high technical standard including network installation, fibre cabling and fibre types, installation and fusion splicing, telephony, quality of service, infrastructure services and ongoing management thereof.

The network that is created will:
  • provide a 100% fibre optic cable to all properties and businesses, and thus be fully future-proofed;
  • be either own brand and open access ISP;
  • enable initial broadband speeds of  40Mbps and 100 Mbps, with the option for Gb/s service in the future depending upon need and growth in demand;
  • be a significant economic multiplier for businesses and the community as a whole;
  • support educational opportunity and social advantage for all as increasingly new forms of learning methods develop;
  • provide extra fibre capacity for community and future P2P use;
  • be available to supply backhaul for 4G mobile phone coverage;
  • provide support to farming enterprises, in areas where the rural economy relies upon a vibrant farming sector and where the national food supply agenda needs to be fully recognized and supported;
  • be available to NHS Cumbria for informatics, telemedicine and telehealth research trials;
  • be available for use by emergency services, critical in an upland and occasionally remote rural area;
  • become a template for the creation of a fibre network, which will be available for other rural communities to use; and
  • most importantly, be fit for purpose for accommodating other (unforeseen) technological advances that may transpire in the future 
Funding of the network will come from a variety of sources including BDUK/RDPE contribution of £300 per premise, possible further Cumbria County Council assistance from their Performance Related Grant (PRG), vendor finance, a community share issue, loans and work in-kind.

For further information contact:
Skype Number: 01274 79 2484
Skype Account: fibregarden
#fibregarden

Thursday 13 September 2012

Residents Congratulate

The residents of Garsdale and Dentdale send in messages of congratulations to Fibre Garden following the securing of a grant from DEFRA towards the cost of providing a fibre optic network through both Dales. This will connect every property who will then have access to superfast broadband and telephony services.

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Attentive Secretary of State

The Secretary of State for DEFRA, Owen Paterson and Tim Farron MP, paid good attention to the arguments put forward by Dr William Lumb on the need to get fibre optic cables in the ground to all properties, enabling them to take full advantage of the growing number of essential services that can be accessed, in particular health care.

The Secretary of State was visiting Garsdale to acknowledge the work and achievements of Fibre GarDen in enabling a community project to provide its own fibre optic network in Garsdale and Dentdale and confirmed the support of, by way of a grant, DEFRA.  The meeting was held at Garsdale Design a leading business in the dale who are redesigning the devastated cities in Iraq and who are in urgent need of superfast broadband to ensure the continued growth of their business.

Further Press Releases:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2012/09/12/rural-growth/  
http://www.in-cumbria.com/home/environment-secretary-visits-cumbria-today-1.994501?referrerPath=home# http://totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=476206&G=1&C=4&page=1
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/09/fibre-garden-project-wins-first-uk-rural-community-broadband-cash.html

Funding Success!

Fibre GarDen, the community broadband company for Gardale and Dentdale is celebrating an award of £157,500 from DEFRA.

The company which is supported by both Parish Councils has been working for two years to secure funding which will enable it to lay fibre optic to every house in both dales. Chairman of the not-for-profit company, Andrew Fleck, said, “This represents 25% of our funding and we expect it to trigger further grants and investment. We have had enormous support from our communities which has enabled us to progress the project with confidence that it is what people want.”

Fibre GarDen has also secured the support of Andy Hudson of Network Rail in an innovative development which will connect the community network to fibres within the national rail infrastructure and thereby connect to the wider internet.

Fibre GarDen expects to offer a service choice of 40mb/s or 100mb/s. The latter would exceed speeds in central London and would place residents and local businesses at the forefront of on-line communication. 

The company aims to start construction in the spring of 2013 and light the fibres for Christmas.

Press Release from Tim Farron's Office

South Lakes MP Tim Farron will welcome Owen Paterson, the newly appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to Cumbria on Wednesday.

During his visit to Cumbria Owen Paterson will be visiting:

08.30am – 09.30 - Meeting with Fibre Garden Community Broadband project in Garsdale.

At Garsdale the minister will announce that the community is one of the first two to get an agreement-in-principle for a Rural Community Broadband Fund grant. Pending some conditions being filled by the community-led project, 525 premises will be connected to superfast broadband following a Government investment of £157,500.

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Exciting Day!

It is going to be a very exciting and milestone day for both Garsdale and Dentdale tomorrow. Make sure you return to this blog to discover more!

Sunday 9 September 2012

Broadband Infrastructure Announcement

The Government has today announced a package of temporary measures, which it believes will make it easier for communications providers to deploy infrastructure and generate growth. The Government has said that it will legislate immediately following consultation where necessary, and/or use existing powers to ensure that, for the next five years: 


This has to be a step in the right direction even in YDNP!

Friday 24 August 2012

Dentdale Show

We are all obviously very disappointed that the Dentdale Show has been cancelled due to the weather. We understand that the show ground area is just too wet to be safe and with yet more rain forecast this weekend it obviously makes sense to cancel.

Members of the Fibre Garden Team were to be at the show to promote the provision of super fast fibre optic broadband in the dale, provide project updates and answer any queries from residents.

If you require further information please do email admin@fibre-garden.co.uk 

Useful Meeting

Members of the Fibre Garden board met with Cumbria County Council with the aim of providing an update on our project and for us to understand where CCC were in the planned roll out of Broadband across the County. We also invited Network Rail, with whom we are in discussion with for the provision of backhaul, to introduce them to CCC as well as BDUK.

It was a very productive meeting with much to follow up and progress to ensure a close working relationship between all parties.

Monday 6 August 2012

House of Lords Committee

The House of Lords Communications Committee have published their report on   the Governments Broadband Strategy which you can review here.

You can also listen to Libby Bateman on BBC Radio Cumbria talking about how  our rural communities are working hard to secure superfast broadband in their areas. The interview starts at 10:40 on this link.

Saturday 28 July 2012

DEFRA Result soon

Everyone at Fibre GarDen are anxiously awating the outcome of our submission to DEFRA for seed corn funding to start the project off. We hope to be hearing within the next week so watch this space for further updates!

Monday 16 July 2012

Dentdale Show

Various members of the Fibre GarDen team will be supporting our stand at the 2012 Dentdale Show on the 25th and 26th August. They will be on hand to answer any of your questions about the Fibre GarDen project, what it will mean for the two Dales, where the project currently is and what is still to be done. The following is taken from the front page of the show website:

Visit the Dentdale Show 2012

"A great day out for all ages"
And it's free - free entry, free parking & lots of free entertainment.
Join us on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th August (the Bank Holiday weekend) for Dentdale Show. Each day has a packed programme that combines the highlights of a traditional local country show with wacky entertainment, live music and the best of the area's food and drink.
The playing fields in the centre of Dent village are the heart of Dentdale Show but there's plenty going on around the village on both days and you can complete your weekend with The Big Night Out from 7pm to late on Sunday evening.
Fun, games and festivities for all the family – see you in Dent!
Check out What's on for details of the programme, events and competitions and lots, lots more.

Sunday 15 July 2012

Aim for the Stars

John Colton has published a further article called Aim for the Stars in which he gives exenstive background information about satelite broadband, useful or not?

Thanks John, I think I understand it now!

Thursday 12 July 2012

Project Team

The Fibre GarDen Project Team had a successful meeting last night that focused on:
  • Recent developments in the Cumbria County Council procurement process
  • Securing advice from our legal experts on an appropriate corporate vehicle for the project, wayleaves, share offering and capital funding.
  • Operational issues and progressing the support from our surrounding communities was also discussed.
Fibre GarDen will also have a presence at the Dentdale Show on the 25th and 26th August. See us at the show for further information about the project and the very latest developments.

Fujitsu Pulls out of Cumbria

Another interesting article about Fujitsu pulling out of Cumbria and where that  leaves everyone. Interesting times ahead and much to discuss with all the relevant authorities and organisations.

Thanks to John Colton for alerting us to the article.

Wednesday 11 July 2012

MP Calls for urgent action after broadband setback

Note this response by Tim Farron following the announcement that Fujitsu have pulled out of the Cumbria broadband talks. Whilst disappointing and leaving a 'one horse race', for some, that will inevitably cause further delays in roll-out of any sort of reasonable broadband service across Cumbria.

Garsdale and Dentdale, through the Fibre GarDen project, will not be affected by this but still need the full support of the communities to make it happen!

Thanks to Martyn Dews for this link

Monday 9 July 2012

Project Team

The Fibre GarDen Project Team are to meet on Wednesday evening to discuss and progress a number of issues relating to the project. One of the main topics for discussion will be organising the share offering with our legal advisers having now received an impressive response from the communities in support of this.

If you would like to become more involved with the project to secure superfast broadband for the two Dales then please do get in touch; details are on the contacts tab at the top of this page.

4G Broadband

John Colton, our Technical Director, has published another briefing paper on the subject of 4G Broadband for Rural Communities with an obvious focus on Garsdale and Dentdale and what this would mean for us.

To view the full article follow this link

Tuesday 3 July 2012

How really fast broadband changes everything

This is a very useful article for those who think that their current so called broadband service is all they need!

Culture, Media and Sport Committee


Select Committee Announcement
Thursday 28 June 2012
For Immediate Release:
ONE-OFF EVIDENCE SESSION: BROADBAND DELIVERY UK
Tuesday 3 July 2012
Committee Room 8
The Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt announced in July 2010 the Government’s aim of having the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015. As virtually all of the UK is now connected to a broadband enabled exchange, the speed of the service received is now potentially the key decisive factor in promoting economic growth as this determines the kind of applications and services that can be accessed online.

Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) is a unit based within DCMS set up to deliver the Government’s broadband strategy to provide superfast broadband to 90% of the UK and a minimum of 2Mbps to the whole of the UK.www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/telecommunications_and_online/7781.aspx and www.culture.gov.uk/news/news_stories/8723.aspx

  BDUK’s main role is to allocate and distribute £530 million of funding to bring superfast broadband to the third of UK homes and businesses which would not otherwise be served by the broadband market alone.

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Anne Fleck, Fibre Garden's Managing Director, has submitted our full response to DEFRA's review of our earlier application. This comprehensive bundle of information will hopefully now see a positive response from DEFRA and secure the seed funding grant that we have applied for.

Sunday 24 June 2012

Fibre GarDen was represented on the Sunday Politics Shown by its Chair, Andrew Fleck, who took part in a debate about rural broadband and how communities are further isolated by not being connected to the superfast broadband network.


You can see the discussion by following this link to BBC iPlayer and forwarding to about 44 minutes in.

Thursday 21 June 2012

Fibre Optics Industry Association


John Colton and Mark Jamieson made their presentation to the Fibre Optics Industry Association today in a impressive location. The presentation was well received and further promoted the Fibre GarDen project.

Wednesday 20 June 2012

The BBC are filming Andrew Fleck, Chair of Fibre GarDen, on rural broadband provision for the Sunday Politics Show which is broadcast on Sunday on BBC 1 at 11am.

After filming at Garsdale Design and the George and Dragon, Andrew is to take part in a studio debate with Maria Eagle (Lab Transport) and Jake Berry (Cons), please watch if you can!
John Colton, our Technical Director and Mark Jameson are presenting the Fibre GarDen project to the Fibre Optics Industry Association tomorrow in London.

Tuesday 19 June 2012

BBC Sunday Politics Show

BBC  Neil Morrow, the producer of the BBC's Sunday Politics Show in the North West has contacted Fibre GarDen today. He is interested in making a film about rural broadband provision.

Westmorland Gazette

John Colton, the Technical Director of Fibre GarDen, is interviewed by the Westmorland Gazette on rural broadband issues which is to appear in the paper later this week. A photograph is being taken today of some of the Fibre GarDen Directors, at Garsdale Village Hall, to accompany the article.

Friday 15 June 2012

Public Meetings

Public meetings were held recently in Dentdale and Garsdale by Fibre GarDen, the community interest company that is working to bring a superfast fibre optic broadband network to the two dales. Andrew Fleck, the company’s chairman, addressed a total of 111 residents in Dent, Cowgill and Garsdale and explained the benefits of the proposed network and the likely costs of both building it and subscribing to it.

An expression of interest form was given to those present at the meetings and subsequently delivered to every household that had not been represented. Residents were asked if they would be prepared to buy shares in the project, and whether they would want to take the superfast broadband service when it was up and running.

The Cowgill and Garsdale meetings were particularly well attended, and the returns from the expressions of interest considerably exceeded expectations as nearly £200,000 was pledged in contributions.