Broadband Project

The future

Breckland 42%

Broadland 12%

Great Yarmouth 2%

King's Lynn and West Norfolk 31%

North Norfolk 47%

South Norfolk 35%

Total 28%

% of areas (SOA) classified at ‘red’ risk of not receiving next generation Broadband when 90% of the UK population has it.

It’s a priority for everyone!

“Rolling out superfast broadband is probably the single most important thing we can do to ensure the sustainability of our rural communities in the 21st Century and end the digital divide”

Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

It’s a priority for everyone!

• Vibrant Rural Communities EERF- Embracing the Digital Age

• New DEFRA priority area

• Rural Coalition recommendation

• Highly likely to be new LEP priority

• But…– Not a commercial priority– Infrastructure expensive

The benefit

EconomyA 2009 World Bank report studied the impact of broadband in 120 countries with the following results:

Economic Indicator  Results

Macro economic growth  Added growth to GDP of between 0.5% and 1.38%

Employment  Broadband added 1-1.4% to growth rate (1998-2002)

Number of firms  Broadband added 0.5-1.2% growth rate (1998-2002)

Housing rents  6% higher in areas where broadband available

Industry mix  0.3-0.6% additional establishments in IT intensive sectors

ICT as the rural service panacea?Not a complete solution but could ease a lot of issues

Number of initiatives

• BT race for infinity- a numbers game

• Government announcement yesterday

• Norfolk County Council Schools Project

• Shaping Norfolk’s Future Campaign

• EEDA EREBUS

Songbird Broadband Project

• At stage 2 of an application to EEDA• Submission of business plan by January• Broadband solutions into areas unlikely to

receive mainstream roll-out • Centre on Cawston • Tight deadline for both stage 1 and 2

have made wider consultation more difficult

• Not guaranteed success

Partnership Approach

• Partners Involved– Norfolk RCC, community engagement and bid

lead– Anglia Framers, links with farmers for masts

and back office (billing) – Intouch Systems, technical install and support– The communities themselves

‘Potential’ Target area, will be performing a technical survey

What will it look like

• Technical feasibility stage but– Wireless product

• Line of site but repeater systems can be used• Exterior receiver• Not a cloud solution

– Looking to provide a guaranteed speed capable of fulfilling modern web functions

• Not average• Not up to• Not a shared bandwidth

What will it look like

• Range of products to cover domestic and business needs

• A commercial sustainable product but a competitive price – Balance quality, price and service

• Working with the Norfolk County Council schools project, Shaping Norfolk’s Future and EEDA EREBUS.

Timescale

• Coverage test Nov/Dec

• Bid submitted Jan

• March start work

• Possible delivery June 2011

What you can do

• Need to log interest– Demonstrate need– Demonstrate sustainability

• www.norfolkrcc.org.uk/broadband

• http://www.broadbandnorfolk.com/

• Still just behind Suffolk!