ISP Voneus Brings Superfast Wireless Broadband to Dadford

Some 100 homes in the tiny rural village of Dadford in Buckinghamshire (England) have finally gained access to “superfast broadband” speeds of 30-50Mbps, which occurred after UK ISP Voneus were able to extend their Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network across the community, with a little help from the local School.

According to Voneus, the cost of building a proper Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to cover Dadford was “expected to be significantly more expensive” than even the per premises cost threshold (£3,400) of the soon-to-be-launched 10Mbps+ Universal Service Obligation (USO). As a result some local residents and businesses have been stuck with slow speeds of as low as 0.5-2Mbps.

Luckily the hamlet did have one critical advantage in its otherwise remote location, the local school already had its own dedicated fibre connection. As a result the ISP was able to work with local residents, the council and Stowe School in order to harness that fibre to help feed their wireless network with capacity.

In line with its policy to provide free broadband to at least one public service or building in each of the communities it serves, Voneus is also providing Dadford Village Hall with a free internet connection.

Steve Leighton, CEO at Voneus, said:

“This really has been a long time coming. I’m so proud of the way Voneus and the community came together to deliver Superfast broadband to Dadford. No one wanted to give up, it’s been a real passion project for everyone involved, and using existing infrastructure in the way we have means we can easily extend the network in the future to benefit others in the area.”

Cllr Warren Whyte, Buckinghamshire County Council, said:

“The difference Voneus’s broadband has made to the community is immeasurable. The speeds we used to have were woeful, and Voneus’s service is superb and extremely welcome. I am delighted the new service is now live and that the first residents are already connected and benefitting from a proper broadband service.”

Customers typically pay from £34.99 per month (24 month term) to access the unlimited service, which includes a wireless router, installation and offers an average minimum speed of 24Mbps over a 24-hour period. A 12 month option is also available but it’ll set you back an additional £4 per month.

Meanwhile Voneus itself recently secured £30m to help their fixed wireless and full fibre network target 900,000 UK premises (here), thus we can probably expect to see a lot more developments from them in the near future.