rsnonline–broadband

rsnonline have issued this newsletter that covers a number of articles relating to rural broadband and is well worth a read if you have a few minutes.

Tender Results Delay

We have received a considerable number of well presented technical proposals which we are currently in the final stages of evaluating. We expect that this process may take more time and careful consideration and we would be most grateful if you would be so kind as to await our further response direct to you in the near future. Thank you very much for the interest you have shown in our project which is greatly appreciated.

Local Committee for South Lakeland

Our many thanks to the Local Committee for South Lakeland for the £3,000 grant towards the legal and professional costs of the project. We have now submitted a Project Completion Report confirming that the funds have been spent and that without them we could not have progressed as we have.

It is so important that local projects like Fibre Garden, that will benefit the Garsdale and Dentdale communities and possibly beyond, are supported in this way. You can have many hardworking enthusiasts but you also need some financial support to get a project off the ground.

Sedbergh & Kirkby Lonsdale Neighbourhood Forum

Our many thanks to the Sedbergh & Kirkby Lonsdale Neighbourhood Forum for the £1,000 grant  towards the legal and professional costs of the project. We have now submitted a Project Completion Report confirming that the funds have been spent and that without them we could not have progressed as we have.

General Update

The Fibre Garden team are still hard at it bringing various aspects of the project together, a significant milestone will shortly be reached.

The formation of the legal entity for the project is nearing completion following many many discussions with lawyers and accountants to get this right both for the community and potential investors and to ensure that we comply with all the rules and regulations, especially to qualify for an Enterprise Investment Scheme. Thanks must be given to those on the team with expertise in this area and who have guided the rest of us through the process. It is our aim to share our experience with other communities as appropriate.

Having formed and registered the legal entity this then permits us to finalise the Share Offer, which was planned to be launched at the beginning of this month. The offer document is written and is going through its final scrutiny before being launched through an appropriate marketing event. Further announcements will be made on this blog.

Our technical team members are also in the final stage of evaluating the many tenders that have been submitted for building the fibre network through both Dales. This is a huge task, ensuring that we have the right solution in place using the right technology at the right price with the right partner! Then there is all the contract law to be looked at.

Funding is in place from DEFRA who are currently looking at the possibility of increasing our intervention rate, we have submitted a new grant application to YDNP to assist with initial overheads and we are currently in the submission and appraisal stage of some further Venture Capital funding. However, the project still needs a great deal of financial support from the communities of Garsdale and Dentdale through the Share Offer that will enable the pledges already made and any new ones to be formalised. Without this support the project will not be able to proceed.

Further updates will be published shortly but if you have any specific queries please do contact us.

Rural Broadband still too slow

This posting from RSNONLINE, Rural Services Network highlights an article by DEFRA stating that rural broadband speeds in the countryside languish behind those in larger towns and cities. They are not wrong in this statement but it's all set to change!

Promoting Fibre GarDen

Elliot Hartley, Director of Garsdale Design Limited, demonstrates the impact of GeoDesign and City Engine has had on their project planning workflows with particular emphasis on project in Iraq.

He promotes Fibre GarDen within his presentation that can be seen in this YouTube clip

Tenders are in!!

Many thanks to all those companies who have submitted a tender for the Fibre GarDen project, we do appreciate the amount of work it takes to submit a tender, but it's our turn to put some hours in to properly evaluate each submission.

The technical members of the team will have their work cut out, followed by yours truly to look at the numbers. The evaluation period will last for four weeks.