Several thousand homes and businesses in northern Lancashire UK could soon benefit after a new project, Broadband 4 Rural North (B4RN), announced its intention to undercut the slow pace of government involvement by deploying its own affordable 1Gbps (1000Mbps) capable symmetric fibre optic broadband and IP phone network in the region.

The service would initially (phase 1) aim to connect up Arkholme, Wennington, Melling, Wray, Tatham, Roeburndale, Over Wyresdale, Quernmore and the Littledale part of the parish Caton with Littledale. At the same time subscribers would benefit from a 1Gbps service costing just £25 +vat per month (+£100 one-off installation).


It's understood that the first phase of the project requires an investment of £1.86 Million and would need a total of £5.659 Million by the end of phase 3. Each phase is expected to take approximately 12 months to rollout.

The project sounds ideal although at present it doesn't have anything like the kind of money needed to deliver such a service. Many would also question the economical viability of offering 1Gbps FTTH connectivity at just £25 inc. VAT per month.

However the projects founders (CEO Barry Forde, Chris Conder, Lindsey Annison and Christopher May) all have plenty of experience in the field, often as active rural broadband campaigners, and are adamant that they have a workable solution.


B4RN's vision is undoubtedly a bold but difficult one, especially given the current financial climate and the risk from aggressively competitive market forces. The first target is to achieve 70% take-up of service by the end of year one (i.e. 1322 properties by the end of 2012), which is naturally dependent upon being able to raise sufficient funding. We'd be pleasantly surprised if they could achieve that target and wish them the best of luck going forward. JFDI.