Ewes Valley Broadband

Dumfries & Galloway

Allison Little

24 April 2013

Allison Little• Why am I here?

– Moved in with family two years ago (2 school age children, 1 at university)

– Before house purchased, called BT who said Broadband was available

– 6 months for BT Executive complaints to find out BB supply to my house was impossible (mechanical exchange)

The Ewes Valley

• South of Scotland, north of Langholm

• A7 trunk road runs up valley

• 100 residents – 65 to 70 properties

• 9 miles long; north/south

• Head of the Ewes Water catchment that flows into the Solway

• 1 Church, 1 Village Hall

The Ewes Valley• Houses are

predominantly in the bottom of the narrow and winding valley

• Hills rise steeply on both sides to about 500m

• Predominantly sheep farming with small woodland / shelterbelt areas

• Some holiday lets

Existing Broadband• Valley is on Mechanical Phone Exchange

• Some residents & business’ have Avanti / Tooway Satellite Broadband.

• Very expensiveand has long latency

Better Broadband. 2013 -• Residents & Businesses would like a

service which is:– not restricting –(monthly quota: Skype,

iPlayer)– competitively priced– reliable & flexible– self financing – future proof

Where are we now?• Previously:

– Initial community meeting in Langholm – Director of BT Scotland, David Mundell MP, Vice President of NFU Scotland, South of Scotland Alliance, local councillors, residents all present. (little support voiced from BT)

– South of Scotland Alliance arranged for Funding (sp. Peter Irving)

– Publicised in local press– Follow up Meeting – Processes and Options.

Clive Downing presented community with route to BB supply. Noted various options (infrastructure / company setup vs existing company)

Where are we now? Continued…• Committee formed and valley surveyed to

map interest (Yes/No/Maybe; Residential/Business). GIS map → CBS

• No obvious solution from initial mapping (but still very useful)

• Technical Survey – CBS organised funding and engineers – made very easy for us.

The Technical Survey Visit• 3 days scheduled

• Initial meeting with CBS, engineers and reps. from valley. – Discuss timetable/areas for the visit– Visit backhaul supply– Test Clive’s fitness!– On the ground survey – photograph valley, analyse for lines of

sight– Completed in 2 days

• Knowledgeable engineers assisted by residents/famers

• Known outcome to date – some casualties and Wireless System on 3 masts

• Awaiting report/results from visit

Next Steps• Engineers Report – committee and CBS meet in Ewes

• Decide on course of action – implement the system – paperwork– funding– planning permissions– landowner permissions– Ground works– tendering process (run concurrently?)– setup and installation of technical equipment– Rollout

• Throughout the process keep community/landowners informed of progress via hand delivered note or community meetings – local press?

Points for discussion• Future proof – Langholm specific?• Local employment/trades – community project,

can it be about more than just BB?• Press – what to say and when – distortion may

cause issues• Landowners – what to say and when. Big vs

small? How to work with unhelpful landowners?• Costs – Schedule of costs through project. How

much is allocated?• Infrastructure – tendering process, future

maintenance, ongoing CBS relationship with BB supplier?

Initial Survey Results• Free GIS software – QuantumGIS