UK Government Offers Advice on Community Broadband Projects
The Government’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has today uploaded a batch of reports and case studies that are designed to provide help and information for anybody looking to establish their own community broadband solutions.
The main summary page includes a general introduction to community schemes, as well as some guidance documents and a long list of case studies, which highlight 10 existing community focused roll-outs of superfast broadband. Many of the case studies are based on a BT (FTTC/P) deployment, although there are also some from B4RN and other projects.
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A statement by DCMS said, “Over the past few years, a number of communities – both urban and rural – have successfully improved broadband access in their local area. The aim of [this information] is to build on their successes by helping other community groups to access and benefit from potential models, case studies, guidance and funding options relevant to local broadband projects.”
All of this appears to play into what the Government’s Digital Minister, Matthew Hancock MP, said earlier in the week (here) about supporting alternative network providers and being “on the side of the challenger.”
| Case Study | Case Study Name | Model Type | Project overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preston Village | Model 2: Buy into existing commercial rollout | BT and local community joint funded a cabinet upgrade to deliver Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) to 130 premises |
| 2 | Coleorton Hall Estate | Model 2: Buy into existing commercial rollout | BT and local community joint funded a new fibre cabinet as previously residents were connected by ‘exchange only’ lines |
| 3 | Fell End | Model 2: Buy into existing commercial rollout | A community built – with some public funding support – 15km FTTP broadband network connecting 58 deeply rural premises, adopted by BT and incorporated into their network |
| 4 | Cotwalton Community Broadband | Model 3: Buy into publicly funded rollout | The Staffordshire village of Cotwalton used BT’s Community Fibre Partnership to join the existing publicly funded rollout to aim to serve up to 14 premises using Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technology |
| 5 | Cybermoor, South Tyne Valley | Model 4: Bespoke solution, supplier owned and operated | The South Tyne Valley is a remote area and this Pilot project aimed to assess the suitability of social investment and loans for broadband deployment |
| 6 | Herefordshire Community Networks | Model 5: Community owned, supplier operated | Community Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) scheme covering an initial 28 properties, mixed residential and small business, financing 50/50 from community shares and connection vouchers |
| 7 | Kelston Community Broadband | Model 5: Community owned, supplier operated | Rural parish of mixed residential/business properties, adjacent to Bath city boundary and three miles from the city centre |
| 8 | Perseverance Works | Model 5: Community owned, supplier operated | Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) network in a privately owned area of east London, a stone’s throw from the Old Street Silicon Roundabout |
| 9 | Tove Valley Broadband | Model 6: Community owned and operated | A community group in Northumberland run since 2003 to improve local broadband |
| 10 | Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) | Model 6: Community owned and operated | B4RN is a Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) network run by a dedicated local team with the support of landowners and volunteers in North West England |
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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