Broadband

Although the average broadband speed across Cumbria is apparently close to the national average (about 6 Megabits per second, Mbps), the speed in rural Cumbria is well below this. I just checked my speed here in Loweswater (some distance from the local exchange in Lorton), and it was about 3 Mbps, which is appreciably higher than the 2 Mbps when I have checked it before. You can check your speed at this link here.

East Cumbria seems to have benefited enormously from the enthusiasm of the Penrith MP Rory Stewart in trying to improve rural broadband access (see here), but the West Cumbria MPs don’t seem to see this as such a priority. Things might be set to change (but don’t get too excited just yet) with Cumbria’s success in attracting government funding (about £24M in total) to bring Superfast broadband (defined as speeds > 25 Mbps) to the County. This is being led by the County Council and co-ordinated through the Connecting Cumbria Partnership. You can read their latest newsletter here. At the end of September 2012, BT was awarded this contract with the following objectives:

Wholesale broadband network: The design, build, operation, maintenance and upgrading of a wholesale broadband network t0 provide wholesale service that a retail service provider might provide to business and residential consumers, including public sector organisations. The superfast broadband network will do the following:
Deliver optimum geographic coverage, aiming for 100% coverage across the Cumbria sub-region, including rural, remote and sparsely populated areas to a minimum speed of 2mb per second.

The wholesale service will be required to be open to all service and communications providers on a non-discriminatory basis.
Deliver a wholesale broadband which delivers the greatest access speeds (data throughput) to as many businesses and consumers as possible to Cumbria and its partners.
The contractor will be expected to work with a county council approved supply chain to assist community groups

to secure a connectivity upgrade for very rural areas. The wholesale broadband network will be partly funded by the Broadband Development uk (BDUK) programme of work, and is therefore subject to state aid notification requirements which include the requirement for the Contractor to offer wholesale services to other retail service providers on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis for at least seven years.

It is anticipated that the wholesale broadband network will be completed within 2.5 to 3 years following the award of the contract. The Contractor will be expected to own and manage the risks associated with developing and operating a wholesale broadband network, including but not limited to take-up risk. It is therefore anticipated that the Contractor will either have a retail capability, or will partner with retailer businesses.