Superfast Broadband

Before reading the update below please note that Fenny Compton has already appointed a number of broadband champions and they will shortly be distributing paper questionnaires to all households and businesses in the parish. It would be helpful if everyone who receives a questionnaire would complete it and have it ready for their collector when he/she returns. We would be grateful if you would complete a questionnaire even if you have already completed the online version. This is only in this way that we will be able to determine the level of local need and strengthen our case for an improved service. As an added incentive it is likely that there will be a prize awarded at random to one of the households that returns a completed questionnaire.

If you are able to help with questionnaire distribution and collection or if you have any other queries please contact:

Mike Davies 770103 or Keith Hicks 770747            

                                                                                                                                  

Bringing Faster broadband to our rural areas

Project Update – March 2012

In this month’s update:
Local Broadband Plan is approved – and the money is in place
Events in your area – come along to find out more
Why we need you to complete our surveys
Become a Local Broadband Champion
Parish Councils
Local Broadband Plan is approved – and the money is in place
Faster broadband for our villages and parishes has moved a step closer with the Government approval of our Local Broadband Plan and the agreement by the Local Authorities to match-fund the £4.07m that the Government has made available for Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire, giving £8.14m in total to be spent on direct delivery of improved infrastructure.  By far the largest slice of this money, just over £8m, will be spent in Warwickshire.
We are now working towards the procurement stage of the project where we will be going out to tender and this will probably take place in the late summer of this year, with a contractor to be appointed in December.  The contractor will become a project partner and will also be expected to invest significant sums in the project, which it is why it is so important that we are able to show a high level of demand – those areas showing the greatest demand are likely to be prioritised over places where there is no demand at all.
We are not specifying any particular technologies – simply that the solution must achieve our targets of 100% coverage at a minimum of 2Mbps and 90% at superfast speeds (over 24Mbps). As a rough guide, 2Mbps will allow you to watch BBC iPlayer without the “wheel” going round or to shop on-line, whereas 24Mbps allows you to use Skype to make video calls and enables other services such as films on demand and the provision of telecare and telehealth
Events in your area – come along to find out more
We will be holding events in each of the Boroughs/Districts throughout the project. The first events to help you to find out more about how superfast broadband will be provided in your area, and how you can get involved are detailed below. More are planned in the autumn

Tuesday 1st May 2012	Trinity Church, Coleshill Road, Atherstone	From 7pm to 8:30pm
Wednesday 16th May 2012	Council Chamber, Elizabeth House, Stratford-Upon-Avon	From 7pm to 8:30pm
Tuesday 22nd May 2012	Committee Room 2, Shire Hall, Warwick	From 7pm to 8:30pm

Why we need you to complete our surveys
Our private sector partner will not be investing in our project out of the goodness of their heart – they will expect to see a return on their investment. We have prepared two surveys (one for businesses and one for residents) which ask the specific questions that providers will need to have answered in order to make informed investment decisions – these are largely around how you would use the service and where you are located. If you have not already done so, please complete the broadband surveys that are located at www.cswbroadband.org.uk. If you run a business or work from home please complete both surveys – just because a building doesn’t have a sign over the door doesn’t mean that there is no business activity going on inside.  Please encourage your neighbours to do the same, because the more people who respond from a given area, the higher priority it will receive!
We recognise that if you have very poor broadband you may not be able to complete an on-line surveys so we are getting paper copies printed and these will be available from either your local Broadband Champion or your Parish Council – please see below.
In some areas people have already been asked to complete surveys for the local council or may have written letters of support. Whilst we will be given the data from those surveys they do not capture all of the information that is essential for this project, and so we would ask that you complete the project surveys as detailed above.
Become a Local Broadband Champion
We need to take this campaign right to the heart of our local communities and to do this we are recruiting local Broadband Champions. The role might include:
·        Putting posters up on local notice boards
·        Delivering flyers to households
·        Providing hard copies of the surveys to those who are unable to access them on-line
·        Delivering presentations to local groups about the project (but only if you feel comfortable with this!)
All materials will be provided and we are currently awaiting delivery of posters, flyers, postcards, questionnaires and other materials.
YOUR ASSISTANCE COULD MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE TO YOUR AREA GETTING SUPERFAST BROADBAND!!