By: MarkJ - 2 December, 2011 (8:40 AM) - Score: 1299 - Fixed Line Broadband

The Broadband 4 Rural North (B4RN) project, which seeks to connect thousands of homes and businesses in north Lancashire UK with an affordable and "hyper-fast" 1Gbps (1000Mbps) capable symmetric fibre optic ( FTTH ) broadband internet service, has officially gained enough interest to proceed with its deployment (the target of 662 registrations was passed within just 3 months).

The network will initially connect 8 parishes in rural Lancashire (Melling, Arkholme, Quernmore, Abbeystead, Wray, Tatham, Roeburndale, Wennington and Caton with Littledale) to a "community designed, built, owned and operated gigabit" broadband service (further details). The service itself will cost £25 +vat per month (+£150 one-off installation), which is quite impressive for a 1Gbps link.

Normally such a solution would be hugely expensive to deploy but B4RN plans to lower the costs, both in the building of the broadband network and to the end user, by using local contractors and the community to aid in its development.


B4RN claims to be a community benefit company that is owned by its shareholders. Income made will be re-invested in the service and spent within the communities the company serves. The shares will be made available under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) that offers 30% tax relief, with a minimum investment of £100 and maximum of £20,000.

The service will initially be providing the broadband connection and VoIP telephony, with further services to follow as the network rolls out over the coming years. Full details about the rollout, share offer and launch are expected to be revealed in an announcement on 15th December 2011.