Byers Green

How do you solve a problem like Byers Green? How do you access the cloud and pin it down?

(Sorry for the Sound of Music reference, in case it doesn’t make any sense.)

Byers Green is a village just outside of Spennymoor in County Durham.  Until a few days ago, it was caught in a broadband trap, in the hinterland of an exchange enabled for superfast connectivity but attached to a cabinet that was just too far away and understandably not economically viable enough to make the case for investment. 

Byers Green may have been an isolated village when it comes to broadband but unfortunately it is not an isolated case when it comes to this kind of problem.  Even if all of the British Telecom Open Reach exchanges were enabled to take superfast broadband between five and fifteen percent of the County of Durham would still be caught in this trap.  So how come the problem was overcome and how come the good people of Byers Green have now got their wish and have access to commercially available superfast broadband and on-line services?

It’s quite easy really it just takes a huge amount of effort.  All of the people who had any role to play in helping to get the cabinet lit in the village got behind the issue and did their bit until a solution was found.  Everyone had a part to play: the Byers Green Community Forum in stirring up support, knocking on doors, filling in petitions and campaigning hard; the politicians both local and at Westminster in putting pressure where it helped and using their influence; the Spennymoor Area Action Partnership in providing support and giving Byers Green residents a platform and an opportunity to raise their concerns; the Digital Durham programme in providing a glue to the process and helping all the parties to come together; broadband activist who were able to offer advice and hope that a solution could be found; and of course the provider who gave their word and delivered as promised.

Not every community will be able to solve its broadband problems in the way that Byers Green have as each community is different.  Some are too remote, some are too small, some have problems with geography, some have problems with demographics or social exclusion but what is needed from them all is a coordinated and well organised campaign that proves to the market that there is demand for broadband services in their area.

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Byers Green?  How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?  People power, that’s how.