News - Page 3 of 4 - FibreValley

The Grand Départ 2014

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Editor Posted in News Leave a comment

Our piece in The Telegraph & Argus, 29 April 2013 (reported by Chris Young) Worth Valley residents fear they will not make most of Tour de France without better internet The district’s rural towns and villages will not be able to make the most of next summer’s Tour De France unless the local internet connection is improved, according to a campaign group. FibreValley, led by Oxenhope resident Ken Eastwood, has been calling for better wireless internet in Haworth, Oxenhope and the surrounding area. Although the situation has improved since they started, they feel patchy connections could let the area down when the world’s media descends on the area for the race’s Grand Depart in Yorkshire on July 6, 2014. Mr Eastwood believes many tourists may be put off visiting the more rural parts of the route if hotels and B&Bs don’t have reliable internet connection, and those that do come may not be too

Fibre is here – or is it?

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Editor Posted in News Leave a comment

Ken Eastwood, Oxenhope resident and founder of FibreValley, shares his recent experiences. BT have taken note of our campaigning and fibre broadband is now available in parts of the upper Worth Valley, via cabinets served from the exchange at Crossroads. We had always hoped that FibreValley would have some influence and it seems we now have. So after a little research I decided we should to return to BT and they confirmed that unlimited Broadband Infinity 2 (up to 76Mb/s) would be available at home. Our phone line connects to a telegraph pole just a few feet away from the new fibre cabinet at Muffin Corner in Oxenhope, so we placed our order expecting to receive a fantastic service and eagerly awaited our installation date. Sadly, there was no knock on the door on the scheduled date and a telephone call revealed that there were technical issues and inevitable delays.

Fibre GarDen

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Ken Posted in News Leave a comment

An information note produced for Fibre GarDen, the Garsdale & Dentdale community broadband initiative. The aim of this short article is to discuss the issues of cabinets, the green or grey metal cupboards by the roadside, in the incumbent telco Fibre-to-the Cabinet (FTTC) solution. Similarly, we pose the question should FTTC ever be considered ‘fibre-optic broadband’, and can this be considered future-proof or Next Generation Access (NGA)? What is FTTC? Fibre to the Cabinet is effectively a way to shorten the distance from the telcos active equipment to the subscribers premises by bringing the active equipment out of the exchange and installing it in cabinets closer to the subscriber. It is the street cabinets which benefit from a fibre service whilst the subscriber simply gets an improved service over the same copper telephone wires to the home. Significant Improvement? Yes. Because the main problem with the use of copper wires

Superfast Slippery Slope

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Ken Posted in News Leave a comment

A no nonsense view from CYBERSAVVY UK, published on the Fibre to the Home UK – Fibrevolution blog. Oh, here we go! It has taken quite a while for our handful of UK incumbents to decide that all this public money being spent on bringing Britain into the digital age needed stamping on. Legally. Publicly. (Unless it was going into their coffers, of course). We are now seeing the litigious games of US incumbents coming to our shores. Called an “appeal” by BBC. These are spoiling tactics – nowt more ‘n nowt less. During my trip to USA this year, I heard yet more horror stories of what the big telcos get up to when there is even a hint of competition on their patch. (There’s a book in that and it is almost finished!) It is not like this bad boy behaviour is new news, and it is not

World First – Wuthering Webcast

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Ken Posted in News 1 Comment

Earlier today, we staged a #moorcast and became the first people ever to live stream (webcast) a performance from Top Withins (allegedly, Emily Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’). Miles away from anywhere, we managed to stream video over the mobile 3G network, using a WiBE as supplied by Rural Broadband, a solution recommended and provided by a local firm, Digital Nomads. Worth noting that residents of the nearest village, Stanbury, are generally unable to stream video, watch iPlayer or otherwise enjoy all the internet has to offer, as they have to rely on the obsolete telephone network, attempting to provide broadband connections to individual households in the area. We hope you’ll support our campaign for change. You can watch the performance here:- Thanks also to Yorkshire Water and the Walshaw and Lancashire Moor Estates, for giving their permission to film and stream events. CREDITS:- Producer & Presenter: Kevin Campbell-Wright, @kevupnorth Mobile Broadband Consultant:

Haworth Festival

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Ken Posted in News Leave a comment

FibreValley are running Moorcast to draw attention to rural broadband issues in the Worth Valley. We’ll be using mobile technology to Live Stream a special performance from Top Withins high up in the moors. Weather and technology permitting, music and poetry will be streamed live over the Internet for all to see, including those at the Festival launch party (being held at the West Lane Baptist Centre ). The party is free and open to all to attend and starts at 5.00 pm on Friday June 29th with the Moorcast Performance starting at 6.00 pm. For more about the Festival and to view the Moorcast visit www.haworthfestival.org.uk We hope this slightly off the wall event will attract some attention and interest and encourage local people to sign up to our site, helping us to make the case for better broadband. We’re reasonably confident we can stream video over the mobile 3G network, using a WiBE

Beyond Broadband [second edition]

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Ken Posted in News Leave a comment

Beyond Broadband: How Our Communities Can Get The Digital Networks They Need is the guide from INCA designed to provide practical guidance to communities seeking to meet their own needs with respect to next generation digital networks. From the Foreword to Beyond Broadband: Broadband has transformed the way that many of us live, work and play. In the words of the Digital Britain report: “We are at a tipping point in relation to the online world. It is moving from conferring advantage on those who are in it to conferring active disadvantage on those who are without.” Yet many people live in parts of the UK where broadband still isn’t available or cannot deliver the performance they need to become fully engaged online. And already many countries are moving on to the next level – broadband over optical fibre – to enable video-rich applications and entertainment, to facilitate small businesses and

Mobile Broadband to the rescue?

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Ken Posted in News 4 Comments

We’ve recently been provided with a mobile broadband device to evaluate and thus far have been VERY impressed with the results. The WiBE device uses the mobile 3G network, extends and boosts the signal and creates a WiFi cloud just like a wireless router at home. Our device came with a mobile sim from Three, universally recognised as the best data network in the UK. Suitable data sims are available for £15 per month and the WiBE device costs £249.99 incl VAT , delivery and a free 1GB SIM. The WiBE uses multi-beam antenna technology and some clever electronics to extend the range and throughput of a 3G mobile network. This allows the 3G network to be a viable option even in areas where there would appear to be little or no 3G signal. The device can bring speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps, and an average of at least 2

EC Plans to Invest €9.2bn in Broadband

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Ken Posted in News Leave a comment

The European Commission (EC) has announced plans to release €9.2bn in funding to help member states deliver superfast broadband connections to citizens and businesses. The EC wants every person within the European Union to be able to access at least 30Mbit/s broadband connections by 2020. “In Europe, we face several problems in deploying broadband, with insufficient investment, problems in accessing capital, and a weak business case for rollout in less populated areas,” said vice president for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes. “This is potentially a serious barrier to growth. So, first, at least seven billion of the proposed €9.2bn would be made available for investment in high-speed broadband infrastructure.” The EC said that providing this access would have significant benefits for SMEs, by allowing them to access the latest software, applications and storage capabilities via cloud computing, as well as allowing more staff to work remotely and from home. “Over just

FTTH Explained in Video

Posted on September 24, 2011 by Ken Posted in News 1 Comment

Here’s a neat little film made by the FTTH Council Europe to explain the benefits of Fibre To The Home.