01 Faster Broadband Public Meeting

 Appleton with Eaton Parish Broadband meeting 

Saturday 13th February 2010
 
Village Hall
 
Chaired by the Chairman of Appleton with Eaton Parish Council, Howard Thomas
 
In attendance: about 30 people
 
1.         Introductions. HT introduced the “platform”: -
 
·        Gaurav Chaudry: Sales and Business Development Manager of Horsebridge Network Systems Ltd (www.horsebridge.net)
·        Chris Marson who instigated a wireless system in the Parish of Northlew, Devon
·        David Hine of Eaton Village
 
2.                  Gaurav Chaudry described his organisation. Set up in 2001, Horsebridge deals with network solutions for large and small organisations – from the British Army in Afghanistan to Northlew in Devon. They are a global organisation and based in Cheltenham. Whereas some companies in this sector might conduct a survey from a distance, Horsebridge would do so physically. They also offer 24x7 support.
3.                  Chris Marson described the challenge and the process
 
a)      Northlew had no Broadband system at all and were never, through BT, likely to have any Broadband connectivity. CM had even seen Ian Livingstone, the CEO of BT, face-to-face!
b)      Considered cable/ wireless and satellite. Decided wireless was the most cost-effective.
c)      Formed a committee last year (March 2009) and in April started obtaining quotes (emphasised three required) and appealing for funds
d)      Set up a company to handle the business (comprised of various residents … a GP, a businessman, etc)
e)      Wrote business case (of which he can let us have a copy) in March 2009
f)        Project required £47,000 plus VAT and funding obtained from various sources – District Council, County Council etc
g)      261 houses in area, 448 between ages 16 and 74 and 130 people work from home.
h)      System went live December 2009
i)        Currently 140 people have signed up
j)        Wireless aerial (main box) on tower of church with nodes (about every 2 kms) around the parish. Church charges nothing: had support of the Bishop! Lamp posts can be used for nodes.
k)      Sign up fee between £50 and £100 (depends on speed required) and £18 per month.
l)        Technology – and they have signed with Horsebridge – is upgradeable and kept up-to-date. It is “state-of-the-art” and “leading-edge”.
m)    Upload and download speeds the same (you do not get this with Broadband and is a major consideration for those running businesses from home).
n)       Reliability factor: only been going three months and one outage.
o)      Security: protected by user IDs and codes.
 
4.                  Discussed Appleton School fibre optic cable and whether we can tap into this cable. Further investigations required
5.                  Cumnor exchange upgrade: this is due in 2011. Pressure needs to be put on BT to upgrade sooner (part of the current problem could well be due to the out-of-date equipment at Cumnor).
6.                  Copper connections into village and checking any spots where water can affect speeds. It is believed that a) copper connections vary in the quality of copper used and b) the connections affected by porous sections?
7.                  Actions households can take to improve their own connections to Broadband.
8.                  Committee set up: HT advised those who could not attend the meeting and who were prepared to be on a committee: -
 
i)    Phil Neale/ Julian Morris/ Ben Salmon/ Ian Bowen-Morris
 
                  From the meeting: -
 
ii)   Richard Readshaw/ David Hine/ Keith Stammers/ Lee Rennie
 
 
HT advised that as this was likely to be a commercial venture the Parish Council could not be actively involved in the project but would support where possible.
 
9.                  It was agreed, accepting the Parish has a different situation compared with Northlew – we do have Broadband but the performance varies from about 2mgs to .750mgs – the priority would be to research: -
 
a)      School fibre optic option
b)      Cumnor Exchange and whether the upgrade will make any difference – if it does, pressure on BT to upgrade sooner
c)      The actual costs of a wireless solution – and establish then whether people would support the costs.
10.              Conclusion. All present showed their appreciation to Chris and Gaurav fro taking the trouble to visit Appleton on a Saturday to make their presentations.
 
 
GBR
15/02/2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday 13th February 2010 

Village Hall

 

Chaired by the Chairman of Appleton with Eaton Parish Council, Howard Thomas

 

In attendance: about 30 people

 

1.         Introductions. HT introduced the “platform”: -

 

·        Gaurav Chaudry: Sales and Business Development Manager of Horsebridge Network Systems Ltd (www.horsebridge.net)

·        Chris Marson who instigated a wireless system in the Parish of Northlew, Devon

·        David Hine of Eaton Village

 

2.                  Gaurav Chaudry described his organisation. Set up in 2001, Horsebridge deals with network solutions for large and small organisations – from the British Army in Afghanistan to Northlew in Devon. They are a global organisation and based in Cheltenham. Whereas some companies in this sector might conduct a survey from a distance, Horsebridge would do so physically. They also offer 24x7 support.

3.                  Chris Marson described the challenge and the process

 

a)      Northlew had no Broadband system at all and were never, through BT, likely to have any Broadband connectivity. CM had even seen Ian Livingstone, the CEO of BT, face-to-face!

b)      Considered cable/ wireless and satellite. Decided wireless was the most cost-effective.

c)      Formed a committee last year (March 2009) and in April started obtaining quotes (emphasised three required) and appealing for funds

d)      Set up a company to handle the business (comprised of various residents … a GP, a businessman, etc)

e)      Wrote business case (of which he can let us have a copy) in March 2009

f)        Project required £47,000 plus VAT and funding obtained from various sources – District Council, County Council etc

g)      261 houses in area, 448 between ages 16 and 74 and 130 people work from home.

h)      System went live December 2009

i)        Currently 140 people have signed up

j)        Wireless aerial (main box) on tower of church with nodes (about every 2 kms) around the parish. Church charges nothing: had support of the Bishop! Lamp posts can be used for nodes.

k)      Sign up fee between £50 and £100 (depends on speed required) and £18 per month.

l)        Technology – and they have signed with Horsebridge – is upgradeable and kept up-to-date. It is “state-of-the-art” and “leading-edge”.

m)    Upload and download speeds the same (you do not get this with Broadband and is a major consideration for those running businesses from home).

n)       Reliability factor: only been going three months and one outage.

o)      Security: protected by user IDs and codes.

 

4.                  Discussed Appleton School fibre optic cable and whether we can tap into this cable. Further investigations required

5.                  Cumnor exchange upgrade: this is due in 2011. Pressure needs to be put on BT to upgrade sooner (part of the current problem could well be due to the out-of-date equipment at Cumnor).

6.                  Copper connections into village and checking any spots where water can affect speeds. It is believed that a) copper connections vary in the quality of copper used and b) the connections affected by porous sections?

7.                  Actions households can take to improve their own connections to Broadband.

8.                  Committee set up: HT advised those who could not attend the meeting and who were prepared to be on a committee: -

 

i)    Phil Neale/ Julian Morris/ Ben Salmon/ Ian Bowen-Morris

 

                  From the meeting: -

 

ii)   Richard Readshaw/ David Hine/ Keith Stammers/ Lee Rennie/ Bernard Martin

  

HT advised that as this was likely to be a commercial venture the Parish Council could not be actively involved in the project but would support where possible.

 

9.                  It was agreed, accepting the Parish has a different situation compared with Northlew – we do have Broadband but the performance varies from about 2mgs to .750mgs – the priority would be to research: -

 

a)      School fibre optic option

b)      Cumnor Exchange and whether the upgrade will make any difference – if it does, pressure on BT to upgrade sooner

c)      The actual costs of a wireless solution – and establish then whether people would support the costs.

 

10.              Conclusion. All present showed their appreciation to Chris and Gaurav for taking the trouble to visit Appleton on a Saturday to make their presentations.

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