Rural Broadband Workshop gets communities talking

West Berkshire Council Hosts Rural Broadband Event

A highly successful Parish Planning “Meet the Expert” Event was recently hosted by ICT Services on 1^st July to start the debate on improving rural broadband services in West Berkshire.  This was held at West Berkshire Council’s Market Street offices, Newbury and saw those attending include a number of local community representatives, the Community Council for Berkshire, a representative for Richard Benyon MP, West Berkshire Councillors, officers and ICT Staff.   

Eleven rural communities attended this event which provided them with the opportunity to highlight their concerns and experiences around lack of broadband access or very slow connection speeds, as well as difficulties with mobile phone network coverage. 

ICT Services described a number of case studies from across the country where communities had successfully managed to achieve better broadband access and speed through a number of different technologies.  This included installing copper cables to reduce the distance from the village telecoms cabinet to the telephone exchange, satellite dishes and fibre optic solutions.  Other emerging solutions were described although many were still in development.    A helpful reference pack circulated on the night enabled attendees take away key information on phone exchange locations, broadband speed by parish and reference links to possible resources.   

Participants’ interest in the topic and finding out more about the technology that was available provided a real catalyst for generating ideas. 

The night provided a real networking opportunity and allowed neighbouring communities to meet and share possible solutions.  It was felt that clusters of parishes could create a greater critical mass for attracting commercial investment from broadband service providers or potentially sharing of associated infrastructure costs.  This information exchange was further facilitated by gaining permission to circulate participants contact details after the event.   

Tessa Hall from the Community Council for Berkshire highlighted the support available for broadband initiatives through the Rural Access to Services Programme (RASP) funding and the opportunity to access larger sums of money if communities collectively worked together.  If any community has any ideas on how they might work with its community to access better broadband then please contact Tessa on mobile number: 07894 099 385.

The general enthusiasm for the topic and event has meant that the ICT Services team will be asked to run another session on rural broadband in the near future.  A website has been set up for useful case studies and general information, see: www.actionforall.org.uk/ruralbroadband/home

If you want to register for the future Rural Broadband Meet the Expert Event please contact: Jo Naylor, Principal Policy Officer, Policy & Communication, Tel: 01635 503019 or Email: jnaylor@westberks.gov.uk