Long before the recent pushes for internet accessibility in Britain, B4RN was formed in 2011 to lessen the rural-urban digital divide. B4RN, or Broadband for the Rural North, is a community-led project that’s still bringing fast internet to Northumberland and other northern counties today. Here’s everything you need to know about this grassroots internet provider.
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Britain’s Push for Better Internet
In recent years, the government has committed to fixing the digital divide that exists between urban and rural internet services. At the same time, Britain’s largest cities, including London, are improving their own infrastructure to become smart cities. As a result, there is a push for better internet across the whole country in collaboration with big and small internet service providers.
With current targets, Britain aims to have nationwide gigabit broadband by 2030. This is because access to internet is considered vital for a lot of modern industries. It’s widely used for communication, remote work and managing utility services and online industries, which rely on customers having internet for things like streaming, e-commerce or iGaming. Without internet, it’d be impossible to stream movies or access other forms of entertainment like games at an online casino, where exclusive slots are made especially for internet users. While modern internet speeds can handle current entertainment, speed needs to improve over time to keep up with newer, better digital services. If a rural community gets left behind today, it will have slower internet than its urban neighbours. If that gap persists for decades, however, then there will be drastic economic and lifestyle consequences for people in that area.
Who is B4RN?
Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) was created by an unlikely combination of telecom industry experts and local northern farmers. It was founded by expert Barry Forde, businesswoman Monica Lee and a group of farmers represented by fellow farmer Chris Conder. Forde acted as CEO until 2020, receiving honours for his services to superfast broadband in rural communities. The whole business is registered as a Community Benefit Society, so profits are automatically reinvested back into the local area.
The community does a lot for B4RN including volunteer work and easy access to building sites from the people who officially own the land. This is in stark contrast to urban internet infrastructure, where projects often get delayed because ISPs need to get permission from building owners who might not be contactable. As for funding, it relies on grants, community investment and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s gigabit voucher programme.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>There is only one way we can build a future proof network 🌐 connecting the hardest to reach rural properties 🏡 and that is with your local knowledge and assistance 💙#fullfibre #broadband #rural #community #wayleaves #teamb4rn pic.twitter.com/Hu3YHVWSrc
— B4RN – Broadband for the Rural North Ltd (@team_B4RN) August 21, 2024
Headquartered at Lancaster, B4RN initially focused on Lancashire, Yorkshire and other northwestern regions. However, they have now spread east into Northumberland and even south into East Anglia. Today, they have over 13,000 customers, with many more in the pipeline. That doesn’t just include homes, as they also provide internet for welfare halls, schools and other places of public community interest.
B4RN in the North East
This year, B4RN was officially enlisted as part of Project Gigabit. This is a £5 billion government scheme to provide 1 gigabit per second internet speeds to underserved British communities. With this new project, B4RN is working with the Northumberland County Council and Building Digital UK (BDUK) to bring fast internet to the north’s most rural communities. In total, the expansion spans over 6,000 properties in the area.
Speaking about the project, one of B4RN’s new community champions said: “We researched and approached a number of suppliers before finding B4RN. Out of all the suppliers B4RN was the only one to commit to supplying every property in each parish no matter how distant and remote. No-one would be left behind.”
Assuming that B4RN’s rollout is successful in Northumberland, as it has been in other northern counties, we can expect them to play a big role in future infrastructure projects. They may be smaller than other British telecom giants, but they are helping bridge the urban-rural divide in the areas that need it most.