Community Broadband in the Worth Valley

FibreValley

Beyond Broadband

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Beyond Broadband: How Our Communities Can Get The Digital Networks They Need is the new guide from the Independent Networks Cooperative Association (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

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Case Study – Home working

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Building their IT Support and Consultancy business is more than a full time job for Worth Valley residents Ms. T and Mr. H. Some tasks are better addressed outside ‘normal office hours’, so full attention can be given. Remote access to the office systems at evenings, weekends and even during holidays is necessary in order to keep on top of admin and systems management for the company itself, as well as to provide backup to office based support and sales staff. Ms T’s home is only 1.7 miles from the nearest telephone exchange, yet during office hours her ADSL broadband connection from her home, at between 2 & 4 mbps download speed is only just adequate for remote access tasks. As the speed has a tendency to fluctuate significantly even during these ‘off peak’ hours this connection is not reliable enough for streaming video or voice data, so video conferencing

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Education in the Worth Valley

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                      To some extent technology has been used differently by the pre-16 (compulsory) education sectors and the post-16 (FE & skills).  Compulsory education is still largely classroom based so, as long as a high speed connection is available to each school premises, technology-based-learning can take place.  However, FE & Skills and HE is based in a variety of settings and, increasingly, teaching & learning is being delivered via the internet. However, increasingly pre-16 education relies upon technology in terms of homework assignments and remote access to and submission of, course work. For the past decade education establishments have been building “virtual learning environments” (VLEs) and e-portfolio systems where classes and resources can be downloaded and assessments can be uploaded.  Pretty much every secondary school and Further Education (FE) College in the country has a VLE and, as exam boards start to

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Historic Norfolk

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The decision for Norfolk to have a £60m superfast broadband network by 2015 has been described as “historic” by the leader of the county council. Derrick Murphy welcomed the government’s decision to match the council’s £15m bid for the network, with private firms set to add £30m. Norfolk was one of only four counties to be given government funding due to its rural location and slow speeds. “It’s a fantastic day for Norfolk,” said Conservative Mr Murphy.

Devon, Norfolk, Somerset and Wiltshire get faster broadband

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Homes and businesses in four rural English counties are to get superfast broadband connections. Devon and Somerset will share £30m of government funding for the roll-out, Norfolk will get £15m and Wiltshire £4m. Each area will also get cash from their council and private investors. A further announcement is expected later this year on superfast broadband funding for every local authority in the country. The Devon and Somerset bid, with support from Plymouth, North Somerset and Torbay Councils, was one of only three to get the go ahead from the government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) Unit.