“A faster internet may help reverse Exmoor’s population decline

One of England’s remotest regions is to get some of the nation’s fastest internet connections under plans to create “Heather Valley” — a smaller version of California’s SiliconValley — in Devon and Somerset.

A network of 40 masts installed across Exmoor National Park will use microwave transmitters to relay the internet to the remotest areas, giving people sufficient bandwidth to trade on the stock market, run a hi-tech business or watch high-definition films from the most isolated of cottages. A similar network will span Dartmoor.

“Many Exmoor properties are so remote that they are not even connected to mains electricity or drainage yet, let alone the internet,” said David Wyborn, head of planning at Exmoor National Park Authority. “Most people also live in deep valleys so their phones are linked to miles of copper cable, which makes the data link too slow.

“This network should give Exmoor broadband speeds similar to the best in cities.”

The failure to bring broadband to the countryside has been an embarrassment for the government. Ofcom last week ruled that BT’s Openreach division, which runs the UK’s broadband infrastructure, should become a distinct company within the BT group, despite campaigners accusing it of “woeful levels of service” and demanding it be split off.

One aim of the Exmoor project is to reverse the area’s population decline. Just 10,200 people now live in its 267 square miles. Improved communications could draw in small hi-tech businesses and people who want to work from home.

Oliver Edwards, whose 600-acre farm and campsite lies in a deep valley, said his three-mile copper telephone cable slowed internet access. “I have to drive to Exford, the nearest village, to sort out visitor bookings or make farm subsidy applications,” he said.

Dan Jones, of Airband, the firm installing the broadband system, said people living in Exmoor and Dartmoor would pay £38 a month for unlimited phone and internet use.

“The masts are designed to look like traditional telegraph poles to minimise their impact,” he said.

TELECOMS watchdog Ofcom wants rural people to tell it about the broadband challenges they face.

Ofcom said it wanted to find out more about the “rural broadband experience” by encouraging rural people to join its research panel.

Ofcom said it existed to make communications markets work for everyone. One of the ways it did so was by conducting research to find out about the customer experience across the UK.

Each year, Ofcom reports its findings in its flagship Connected Nations report – which provides a snapshot of the state of the UK communication network.

To inform this and wider work, Ofcom is calling for volunteers to sign up to join its expanded research panel of broadband customers.

Ofcom said it was “particularly looking to sign up more people who live in rural areas in order find out more about the challenges they face”.
Potential participants are encouraged to sign up via Ofcom’s partner’s website at

https://signups.samknows.com/ofcom/

Volunteers who meet Ofcom’s sample requirements will be sent a unit to plug into a mains socket and connect to their home broadband router.

Further details of the sign-up process are set out below.

1. Broadband users sign up to take part in the research by completing an online form on SamKnows, Ofcom’s technical partner’s website here: https://signups.samknows.com/ofcom/

2. SamKnows compares these volunteers to Ofcom’s sample plan, which is designed to ensure that the panel is statistically robust and nationally representative. Please note that not all of those who volunteer to take part in the research will be selected.

3. Those who fit Ofcom’s sample plan will be asked to complete an online end-user licence agreement.

4. Volunteers are then sent a whitebox hardware measurement unit that they plug into a mains socket and connect to their home broadband router using the provided cable.

Please note that the whitebox will not interfere with the panellist’s connection as it only runs tests when the connection is not in use, and it does not monitor what the panellist uses their connection for.
Further detailed information about the process can be found at https://signups.samknows.com/ofcom/faq

If you have any questions or would like further information about this work, contact Jose Kurian at jose.kurian@ofcom.org.uk.

The Local Government Association called for a “timetable for action”, saying it was “paramount” to press on with extending broadband to all of the UK.
Ministerial changes after the Brexit vote must not delay work, it added.

The government insisted it was on track with its broadband coverage plans.
The promise to give every household a legal right to high-speed broadband was announced in the Queen’s Speech in May, as part of measures to make the UK a “world leader in the digital economy”.

The government expects an initial minimum speed of at least 10 Mbps (megabits per second) by 2020 under the new “broadband universal service obligation” (USO).

The pledge is included in the Digital Economy Bill, which will also include powers to direct Ofcom to regularly review the speed provided to ensure it is “still sufficient for modern life”.

Council leaders said they supported the creation of a national minimum broadband speed, but called for a “safety net” for those who were unlikely to be covered by the plan.

The government plans to set a reasonable cost threshold above which the remotest properties could be expected to contribute to the cost of their connection.

Mark Hawthorne, from the Local Government Association (LGA), said good digital connectivity was “a vital element of everyday life”, and key to the economy.

A minimum speed was “a good start”, but it must keep pace with national average speeds, especially at peak times, he stressed.

“Without this there is the real possibility of some areas – particularly in rural and hard-to-reach areas – falling into a digital twilight zone.”
The LGA’s call comes a day after Ofcom announced proposals to make BT’s Openreach division a distinct and legally separate company from BT to ensure “faster, more reliable broadband.”

But Ofcom stopped short of calling for Openreach – which runs the UK’s broadband infrastructure – to be spilt off entirely.

Responding to the LGA’s intervention, Digital Minister Matt Hancock said nine out of 10 UK homes and businesses could already get superfast broadband, and Britain was on target to reach 95% coverage by the end of next year.