Churches in Bath and Wells to Help Spread Superfast Wireless Broadband

Rural communities in Bath and Wells (Somerset, England) could soon be getting fasted broadband from wireless transceivers installed on top of local churches. The development follows a new deal between fixed wireless ISP Wild West Net and the Bath and Wells Diocese.

The ISP already offers a free Community WiFi service to village halls, which is based off just 10Mbps of shared capacity, although they also offer a 25Mbps capable service with a usage allowance of 100GB (£24.99 per month) for individual subscribers in parts of rural Devon. Now this same service looks set to be given a boost by the new deal.

The idea of using churches to help spread faster broadband speeds into rural communities is of course nothing new (example), although this latest development comes less than two months after the Somerset and Devon councils failed to reach an agreement with BT for the expansion of superfast broadband (24Mbps+) services (here).

The existing £94m Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) contract is already working with BT to make such speeds available to over 90% of local homes and businesses by the end of 2016 and it was hoped that the new contract could push this to 95% or possibly more, but in the end BT could not meet the project’s strict timescale.

CDS has now returned to open tender and is seeking an alternative to BT’s proposal, although in the meantime ISPs like Wild West Net will no doubt be hoping to capitalise on those shortcomings by delivering their own alternative.

Richard Tulloch of the Diocese said:

“Whilst the progress made so far by CDS is commendable, what of the remaining 10%? They are likely to be those in the most rural areas.

Our churches exist to serve everyone in the local community and be at the very heart of community life. There is no better way to demonstrate this than using our towers – typically the tallest buildings in rural areas – to complement the roll-out of superfast broadband in our county.”

Apparently two pilot networks are already being planned. One is planned for a cluster of churches around Ashbrittle and the second is for the Levels, where the benefits of superfast broadband cannot be underestimated, particularly should flooding recur. Sadly the Diocese has declined to reveal any of the financial aspects of this agreement, except to say that any money raised would be spent on maintaining its buildings and supporting local work.