the b4rn project professor barry forde mbe frsa chief executive [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
Connected Britain 2
Our Ambition• World class broadband
– 1Gbs symmetrical (from day 1)– No distance degradation
• Future proofed– 10Gbs/100Gbs when/if needed– 50-70 year minimum life
• 100% of properties connected– Parish/community based– If the parish is in then every property in it is in!– No property too far or too expensive– No cherry picking, one for all, all for one!
• Affordable– £150 connection fee, £30/month (inc VAT)
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Connected Britain 3
Our Design
• Core - narrow bore HDPE 16mm/12mm duct– Can salami routes as necessary– Easily fixed if damaged in laying– Single or multiple ducts depending on need
• Spurs – 7mm duct, 2 fibres per property• Use cross country routes, not highways
– Much cheaper– Need wayleaves, is this a problem?
• Blow up to 192 fibre count cables = 96 properties– Or add second duct if more than 96– Only blow fibre once duct finished, good for cash flow
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Connected Britain 4
B4RN Parish Node
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External Connectivity
• Lease private dark fibre to Telecity Manchester (Zayo)– 128Km Single fibre
• Operate DWDM (SmartOptics)– 32 wavelengths each pair gives 10Gbs capacity– Add 10Gbs channels as demand warrants
• Peer at IX-Manchester• Peer at LINX (Juniper LAN ) London• IP Transit (M247)16th June 2015
UKNOF27 6
Quernmore Abbeystead Arkholme Dolphinholme Wray Capernwray
North South
TelecityManchester
10 Gbps diverse routed links
32 x 10Gbps lambdas
21/1/14
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2011/2012 Plan
23 parishes~3500 properties
420Km2
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Cost & Funding
• £3.5M needed to connect 3500 properties– ~£1K/property
• Raised by– Shares
• ~£1.3M raised via shares• Number of members ~650• Still getting strong support
– Loans• ~£1.3M raised from community via loans• Nearly all 5 or 10 year terms• £300K raised outside community,5 year
– Revenue as connections begin to generate positive cash flow– Grants
• Zero!
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(Broadband 4 the Rural North)
• Industrial and Provident Society Act 1965• Company number IP31352R– Community Benefit Society– Similar to coop but answerable to community
rather than our shareholders, more like a charity in some ways
• One member one vote, not related to number of shares member holds
• Asset lock16th June 2015
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Shares Bought
• £100 - £100,000 max per person– FCA rule for IPS company
• Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS)– HMRC tax relief for investors– http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/eis– 30% of cost of shares, less any benefits– Between £500 and £100,000– Carry back facility– Must be held for at least 3 years
• £1500 or more invested get connection fee waived– Amount eligible for EIS reduced by £150 to account for free connection
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Shares Earned - “Sweat Equity”
• Piece rate for various jobs– E.g. 1metre of duct installed = £1.50
• If landowner happy to do work across his land then pay him in shares?
• Helping community but effort rewarded when project has the money
• Do 1000m, get £1500 shares, get free connection• Always give priority to local people who are prepared to
do work for shares, then locals who need cash payment, finally as a last resort bring in external people
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Construction
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Project Milestones
• 330 Connections– Generates £100K income– Covers OPEX excluding labour so still dependant on
volunteer effort• 1000 connections– Generates £300K income– Covers OPEX including labour– May 2015 @ 1050 connections– 7 FTE staff employed, fully staffed– Volunteers can relax a bit!
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Performance
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Support
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End Game
• >1000 connections– Begin to pay back investments and loans
• Based on 50% take up = 1750 properties– Estimate paid back by year 12 = 2024
• Actually achieving 67% take up and climbing• Also footprint growing, now 5000 properties and will
probably hit 10000.• Then what?
– £750K - £1M free cash flow– Community Benefit society so two options
• Reduce monthly fee to just cover costs (~£15/month)• Use cash for benefit of community!
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Current Build Plan
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33 Parishes504Km2
4850 properties
Thank you