Lincolnshire UK Council Shuns Alternative Wireless Broadband Project

The Lincolnshire County Council has rejected an alternative superfast broadband network proposal from a little known ISP called ionNET, which would have used its point-to-point and ‘up to’ 30Mbps capable wireless broadband network to reach rural parts that the local BT and Broadband Delivery UK programme might overlook.

At present the primary Onlincolnshire project (East Midlands, England) is already working with BT to roll-out FTTC/P based “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) services to “at least” 89% of all premises in the county by April 2016 and a new contract could soon see this expanded to 95% by around 2017/18.

However big gaps in the coverage will still remain and ionNET claims that their solution could help to fill those. Indeed Lincolnshire already has form in this field after the EU contributed £300,000 to help wireless ISP ABInternet extend their network to parts of East Lindsey and Boston (here).

But apparently ionNET’s proposal, which would have required around £100k of public funding to cover all of South and Central Lincolnshire, was deemed to be too expensive (here).

Steve Brookes, LCC’s Broadband Programme Manager, said:

“Earlier this year, the company approached us again, this time, following discussions, proposing what proved to be a much more expensive project than the original.

However, the target area was not one that would be eligible for funding from the European Regional Development Fund or BDUK. So, it would need to be paid for by the council itself, which was unrealistic given the current financial situation.

In addition, the projected cost would require us to go through a full tender process – we couldn’t simply hand the money over.”

On problem here is that state aid rules prevent overbuilding, except with some bits at the edges of a network, and from the description it sounds as if the ionNET coverage would have reached into many areas where the BDUK programme is already operating.

In any case ionNET’s Director, Nik Fox, feels adamant that this is a wasted opportunity: “At one point, we had a unique deal in place, which brought down costs considerably. Their own delays in engaging with the process saw that plan fade away. … The project is still viable, it’s still public money … When you look at costs against benefits, we don’t see why this has become such a problem.”

A quick look at the ISPs website reveals that their service, once available to an area, costs £199 +VAT to install (including all the needed kit) and the 30Mbps residential package costs £29.99 +vat per month (Note to ionNET: home services need to be inc. VAT) on a 24 month contract (50:1 contention ratio). The service is technically unmetered, although they do give a vague warning about the potential for restrictions. Sadly their website contains no T&C’s or any legally required contact details.

At present the ISP’s service is already live in Larne, Killinchy, Killyleagh & West Strangford Loughshore (Northern Ireland) and Bourne (Lincolnshire). But they are also looking to expand into parts of Rutland, the London Borough of Barnet, The Fens (East of Peterborough) and East Northamptonshire.