Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: B4RN (126 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - B4RN

BDUK Change Stalls One of B4RN’s Rural FTTP Builds in Cumbria UPDATE

14th June, 2023 (13 Comments)

Residents in the Eden Valley (Cumbria) villages of Warcop, Sandford, Coupland Beck, Bleatarn and Ormside have been left angry after the Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency, which had been due to supply gigabit vouchers to help them get a new full fibre (FTTP) network installed, put their project into limbo.

A Brief Story of How One UK Village Got Stuck in Broadband Limbo

25th March, 2023 (48 Comments)

Across the country, you’ll find many rural villages that have fought and been successful in getting a gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network installed, often with the help of the Government’s voucher scheme. But sometimes even success stories can hit roadblocks, leaving locals stuck in limbo.

B4RN Fined for Safety Failings During FTTP Broadband Rollout

17th November, 2022 (15 Comments)

Fibre optic builder and UK ISP B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North), which is rolling out a 10Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across rural parts of England, has been fined £1,400 after an inspector identified a number of safety failings with their deployment in the small Eden Valley village of Kirkoswald (Cumbria).

A Quick Guide to UK Social Tariffs – Get Broadband from £12.50 – UPDATE Oct 2025

29th August, 2022 (0 Comments)

The cost-of-living crisis is having a horrific impact on the UK and forcing many households into poverty, including those that would have previously been considered secure. But the good news is that a growing number of home broadband ISPs and mobile operators have launched a range of cheaper “social tariffs“.

B4RN Volunteer Gets Queen’s Birthday Honours for Rural FTTP Build

2nd June, 2022 (5 Comments)

The annual Queen’s Birthday Honours (2022) have today been published, and they include the odd figure from the United Kingdom’s broadband and telecoms sector. For example, Val Winchester from the village of Chapel-le-Dale secured a ‘British Empire Medal‘ for helping to dig B4RN’s full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP networks.

Rural ISP B4RN Raise 1Gbps Broadband Prices for First Time

29th April, 2022 (26 Comments)

Network builder and UK ISP B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North), which has spent the past decade deploying a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across rural parts of England, has for the first time ever announced a price increase to their monthly rental. But they’ve also added a social tariff and cut setup fees.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak Visits B4RN’s Rural Gigabit Full Fibre Project UPDATE

11th April, 2022 (31 Comments)

The UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, appears to have taken some time out from questions over his family’s tax affairs to see how public investment is helping rural ISP B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North) to deploy a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to homes in the North Yorkshire hamlet of Cotterdale.

Homes in Cartmel Fell Still Without Broadband After 6 Weeks

7th January, 2022 (24 Comments)

Some homes in the remote rural hamlet of Cartel Fell, which sits in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria (England), have been left without access to a working fixed line broadband ISP or phone service for six long weeks. The problems began after Openreach’s local telecoms infrastructure was significantly damaged by Storm Arwen.

B4RN Celebrates 10 Years of Bringing FTTP Broadband to Rural Areas

15th December, 2021 (12 Comments)

Community ISP B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North), which are deploying a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across rural premises in England, has today marked the 10th anniversary of their share launch. The network currently covers around 20,000 premises and has connected 9,000 of those.

ISPA Name Winners of the 2021 UK ISP Internet Industry Awards

5th November, 2021 (2 Comments)

The UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) last night unveiled the winners of their 23rd annual 2021 internet industry and broadband awards, which among other things saw B4RN walk away with the award for “Best Rural ISP“, while CommunityFibre scooped both the “Best Consumer ISP” and “Best Ultrafast ISP” awards.

Solution Found to Tackle UK Gigabit Voucher Concerns by AltNets

24th September, 2021 (13 Comments)

The CEO of alternative full fibre broadband ISP B4RN, Michael Lee, has revealed that the UK Government (DCMS / Building Digital UK) are proposing “Voucher Priority Areas” as a semi-solution to the disruption caused by their new £5bn Project Gigabit programme in rural parts of Cumbria and Northumberland.

Parliament to Debate B4RN’s Gigabit Voucher Scheme Concerns UPDATE3

21st September, 2021 (13 Comments)

Last month we reported that the UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit programme was threatening to disrupt B4RN’s rollout of a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in rural parts of Cumbria and Northumberland. The good news is that Tim Farron, Lib Dem MP, has secured a parliamentary debate on the issue.

Benchmarking Broadband ISP Speed Testers On a 10Gbps Line

29th August, 2021 (29 Comments)

At one point or another, most UK people will have probably attempted to run a web-based speed test on their broadband connection, but have you ever wondered how well some of the most popular speed testing services do when confronted by a fully capable 10Gbps (Gigabits per second) service? For a bit of fun, we tried to find out.

Closure of Gigabit Voucher Scheme Threatens B4RN’s Fibre Build UPDATE

12th August, 2021 (43 Comments)

The B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North) project, which is building a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across rural premises in several UK counties, has warned that the Government’s new £5bn Project Gigabit programme is threatening to seriously disrupt their builds in Cumbria and Northumberland.

ISP B4RN Extend Rural Full Fibre Network to 17,000 UK Premises

21st June, 2021 (15 Comments)

The B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North) project, which is deploying a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across rural premises in several English counties, has revealed that they’ve now covered around 17,000 premises (8,600 connected customers) and are trialling a new £5 Connect Plus tariff.

Rural FTTP Community Broadband ISP B4RN Appoints New CEO

15th January, 2021 (10 Comments)

The community focused broadband ISP B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North) has today announced that Michael Lee is being appointed to become their new CEO. Michael replaces the provider’s former founder and CEO, Barry Forde, in the role (he retired at the end of last year) and thus has some fairly big boots to fill.

Barry Forde – CEO of Pioneering Rural FTTP ISP B4RN to Retire

9th November, 2020 (17 Comments)

The founder and CEO of UK rural “full fibre” broadband ISP B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North), Barry Forde MBE, has this morning announced that he intends to retire by the end of this year. The provider’s Board is currently overseeing the ongoing process of appointing a successor.