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Welcome to the first CBN newsletter of 2009. This year we expect to see major progress with the Next Generation broadband agenda, not least with the flourishing of locally developed fibre projects. In this newsletter we’ll keep you up to date with new projects and alert you to events that we are planning to bring together project promoters, funders, technology providers and policy makers.

On the Road
Thanks to sponsorship from Alcatel-Lucent CBN’s small but perfectly formed NextGen 09 team of Andrew Macdonald and Marit Hendriks have been able to develop a roadshow programme of regional events culminating in a major Next Gen09 conference in the Autumn.

Each event is designed as a one day workshop aiming to inform participants about the latest state of play with next generation broadband nationally and regionally. These will be ‘can-do’ affairs, highlighting local action and opportunities for new project development. The first event takes place in Manchester on 24 February followed by Gateshead on 18 March, Nottingham on 24 March, Bristol on 31 March, West Midlands on 24 April and the South East and East of England in May. Partnership and schedule building is under way, so if you want to find out more contact Andrew Macdonald - andrew@gfievents.co.uk or Marit Hendriks - m.hendriks@broadband.coop.

Fibre in the Community
The number of next generation projects around the country is growing fast. The OFCOM Consumer Panel has just published a summary of local initiatives here.

CBN’s team has been working with partners on many of these for over a year. Our efforts are finally paying off as the first projects move from the drawing board into reality. In each case they are delivering fibre to the premises (FTTP) capable of delivering very high speed services. A key facet of these projects is that the fibre is seen as a long term community asset, something that is reflected in the ownership model and financing.

The first fibre project to go live is in a new build development by the West Whitlawburn Housing Co-op in Cambuslang, Glasgow. The co-op is building 100 new homes to complement the existing estate of 540+ apartments. CBN was commissioned to manage the fibre project with the first homes coming on stream in February. West Whitlawburn is focused on digital inclusion and so is particularly keen that residents have access to high speed broadband, despite serious poverty in the community. Though a comparatively small project it is a first for Scotland and for the social housing sector nationally.

The second project that is rapidly moving from aspiration to reality is in the small town of Alston, Cumbria. The people of Alston famously created the successful Cybermoor project that brought wireless broadband to the area years before ADSL. Daniel Heery, director of Cybermoor, is determined to keep Alston ahead of the game by providing fibre connections throughout the town and surrounding moor. Alston is the most sparsely populated parish in England, so delivering high speed broadband here through community enterprise is a great model for other rural areas. Alston Fibremoor will establish a benchmark in the costs of deployment and the feasibility of rural next generation broadband access.

The third project steaming ahead is in Manchester where the City Council through Manchester Digital Development Agency commissioned CBN to develop a pilot FTTP project initially covering 500-1000 premises in the Oxford Road area of the city. This part of Manchester is undergoing regeneration and includes student areas, small businesses in the cultural industry sector and some of the more deprived parts of the city. The plan is to create a ‘living lab’ where new applications and services based on high speed broadband can be developed and trialled. Tenders for the fibre build will be sought in the next few weeks.

Digital Britain
The Government’s Digital Britain team is due to produce an interim report at the end of January. To date much of the media coverage has focused on the broadcasting industry. However the report will also deal with important telecommunications and broadband issues. Elements of the report are likely to focus on rural coverage (notspots and slow-spots), next generation infrastructure, and broadband take up. CBN has given evidence to the Digital Britain Steering board, chaired by Lord Carter, explaining the approach we and our partners are taking to these issues. We are particularly concerned that public policy supports the development of services – particularly new fibre infrastructure – in rural areas and poorer urban locales, not just in more commercially attractive areas. Stephen Carter agrees that experience from first generation broadband roll-out clearly shows that action at the community level can play a big role in organising demand and services in places that will otherwise be deemed uneconomic by the commercial sector. However for community action to be effective there needs to be the right sort of support available, models that can be adapted to local circumstances, and a national framework to support local action.

INCA & JON
Following input to the Caio Report, CBN has been discussing with partners the creation of a new body to link next generation broadband projects. Plans to create the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) were announced at the Next Gen08 conference in Manchester. The purpose of INCA is to enable local projects to work together more effectively and to speak with a unified voice to government and industry. Currently we are planning the launch of INCA which will be announced in coming weeks.

Linked to INCA is a second project, the Joint Operating Network (JON – or Janet’s little brother). The purpose of JON is to establish common technical and operating standard for local networks. This will help national and regional ISPs to deliver their services to consumers and businesses connected to local fibre networks in a cost-effective way.

More information on INCA and JON will be posted on the CBN website or you can contact Malcolm Corbett - m.corbett@broadband-uk.coop

Malcolm Corbett
CEO CBN

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