Two questions about our village's broadband service have recently emerged; one from an engineer and one from a village inhabitant -

• How many of us would be willing to pay the premium for super-fast broadband if the BT Infinity fibre-optic cable came to town? (engineer's question)

Would we consider clubbing together to fund some kind of private venture to bring normal UK broadband speeds to our homes? (local's question)

These questions are critical because the financial concerns of BT (who hold the most likely solution to our BB woes) are slowing down their commitment to hard-to-reach areas such as ours.  If we take the (rather inadequate) local government subsidies out of the equation, BT are left with a big bill for providing a service to communities such as ours with the risk that too few households are willing to subscribe to them.

We all think that broadband is becoming a human right, but that vociferous claim sometimes dwindles with the reality of actually paying for the service in these straitened times.

It would be really useful to know about how strongly we all need this and want 'normal' UK speeds of around 7Mbs in Moreton Pinkney so I would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to click a button on the Poll below.

In the meantime, you can read more about the current state of broadband here...

So where are we with Broadband in our village?  After a tragic drop in my own broadband speed to 400kilobits per second (kbs) and four visits from Open Reach engineers in as many weeks, I have managed to glean quite a bit of information.

We know from our survey that most of us in Moreton Pinkney have speeds of around 350 - 400kbs, which in this day and age, barely qualifies as Broadband at all.  Think of it more as Dial-up Plus.

What is particularly galling is that most of us are paying for a service that should / could deliver up to 4 megabits per second (mbs).  Even this is still way below the average UK residential speed of 7.6mbs as reported by Ofcom in November 2011.

So we know where we are in the scheme of things; the next question is why?

Quite simply, it's down to our distance from the Sulgrave Exchange.  Anything over a few kilometers and the broadband signal begins to fizzle out along the copper cable that runs to the cabinet near the Moreton Pinkney Garage.  Our village is just over 7 kilometers from the Exchange.  Just to illustrate the difference this makes, Culworth customers regularly get 2 -3 mbs and we don't.

The problem is further exacerbated by the limitations of this old-fashioned 200-line cable which was originally designed to carry voice, not data.  What Broadband does, in effect, is send a radio wave down the wire, forcing 19th century technology into a service never dreamt of when it was put in the ground.  And the cable is now full to capacity, with no spare 'twisted pairs' left to substitute if one set goes down or seems a bit sluggish on the broadband front.

The other revelation is the amount of interference generated within the cable by different people using broadband.  It really is luck of the draw whether you have a 'good' line or not (they do vary, apparently) and your broadband signal is entirely dependent on how many wires next to yours are heavy users of broadband.  Hence the fluctuation in service as someone up the road, who has a line next to yours in the cable, decides to download some whopping great film file.

So what's the solution?

The brutally honest answer from the engineers is - there isn't one, at least not in the short term.  There is very little they can do improve the broadband speed you have today.

BT is beginning to roll out its Infinity programme which may eventually bring a dedicated broadband fibre-optic cable to our cabinet at the Garage. This would deliver broadband of dizzying speeds for all of us.  But it's expensive and there are no plans to install this here, as far as we can see, until at least 2014.

The Government is trying to ensure that the less cost-efficient rural areas get a look-in by offering some subsidies to local councils for Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) but these grants cover only a fraction of the true costs, so BT will concentrate on the towns and cities first where it can recoup its investment faster from the higher population density of subscribers.

The economic imperative of all private companies would seem to suggest that rival providers such as Virgin will be led by the same principles.

There is a glimmer of hope in the new 4G network which is being kick-started at the end of 2012.  Basically this broadband over the mobile phone network and, again, it could deliver great broadband speeds.  But - and there is always a but - we don't even get a 3G signal in the village at the moment , so it would probably need a new mast to be built closer to us than Banbury or Daventry where our local signal is currently broadcast.

If you have any thoughts (or solutions!) to this growing problem, please let us know.

A government planning inspector has been appointed to consider the appeal by Broadview Energy Limited against South Northants Council’s refusal of planning permission for the erection of five 125m (410 feet) high wind turbines between Helmdon and Greatworth and very close to houses at Stuchbury.

The inquiry will commence on Tuesday 15th May at a venue yet to be announced and is expected to last for at least 8 days.

The inquiry is basically a forum in which South Northants Council will defend its decision to refuse planning permission in the face of Broadview Energy’s contention that there are no valid reasons for such a refusal. Local groups such as the Helmdon, Stuchbury and Greatworth Windfarm Action Group will be allowed to appear, as will affected individuals.

The procedure is similar to a court case, with advocates for each side taking witnesses through their evidence, followed by cross-examination and re-examination, with an Inspector in the place of a judge. At the end of the hearing of evidence, the Inspector will visit all of the sites referred to during the inquiry, in the presence of both sides. He or she will then retire to consider the evidence and conclude whether to allow or dismiss the appeal.

This verdict is expected on or about the 13th July.

To promote Northamptonshire County Council's new library shops across the county, they are offering people the chance to enter a competition to win a brand new Kindle. 

Anyone can enter - you have until February 29th.

Click here for more details...

A project to bring fibre broadband to residents in Helmdon is underway. The FiSH project (Fast Internet Service for Helmdon) is in its infancy but already the ingredients are coming together.According to the latest Superfast Northamptonshire Newsletter, faster broadband was a need identified by the recently refreshed Parish Plan and Helmdon Parish Council is fully behind it.

Councillor Danny Moody says “Our closest exchange is 4km away in Sulgrave so current speeds are very low, sometimes struggling to hit 1Mbps”, “the frustrating thing though is that there is a fibre pipe into the village for the primary school, so the capacity is there and it's just a case of working out how it might be delivered.”

Helmdon residents have had a number of meetings with EMBC, who manage the fibre infrastructure as well as “last third” companies such as Gigaclear who could take the fibre from the school to individual homes. Councillor Moody added “The technology is the easy bit. At the end of the day it will come down to simple economics… are there enough residents prepared to sign 
up to a contract with a service provider such that it makes financial sense for the provider to invest in the infrastructure?”.

Although with speeds of ten times, even 100 times what is available now the FiSH project looks certain to make progress.

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Broadview Energy to appeal
Broadview Energy released a statement on 16th November announcing their intention to appeal against South Northamptonshire Council's decision to reject their planning application back in July 2011 for five 125m wind turbines at Spring Farm ridge.

This means that there will now be a Public Inquiry chaired by a Government appointed Planning Inspector. This is likely to take place in the Spring of next year.

more...

Plans for 13 wind turbines in countryside near Daventry will go on display for public comments.
EDF Energy Renewables is holding two exhibitions to consult on its plans for its Stoneton wind farm 11km south west of Daventry between Priors Hardwick and Wormleighton, Warwickshire.
more...

101 is the new number to report crime and other concerns to Northamptonshire Police that do not require an emergency police response.

You can call 101 to report a crime or incident that has already happened, to speak to your local Safer Community Team or any other officer or member of staff, to give us information about crime or criminals in your area, or to make a general enquiry.

999 should still be used in an emergency. 

If you have any hearing difficulties or a speech impairment, a text phone is available on 18001 101.

For the time being, if you are calling from outside Northamptonshire, you should still call 03000 111 222. This number will remain available while 101 becomes established and for callers outside England and Wales.   

Please share this message with your friends, relatives and neighbours.