Agenda item

John Wilkinson (Economic Enterprise Business Development Manager) will attend to give a verbal update on this issue and answer questions.

John Wilkinson, Business Enterprise Manager, distributed a handout which informed the meeting of progress with B&NES participation in the Connecting Devon and Somerset broadband programme. The programme aims to deliver improved broadband service to every community and business by 2015 to 2MB per second with at least 85% of the area getting 24MB per second by 2015 and 100% by 2020.  He explained that the Connecting Devon and Somerset Broadband Programme was one of three national pilots supported by the government.

He urged parish members to complete the online survey about demand which was on the Connecting Devon and Somerset website. This would inform the private sector (who would be bidding to provide the broadband service) about the level of demand in rural areas. The general survey would be followed up with a series of questionnaires and phone surveys to gather more detailed information.

Mr Wilkinson then introduced Chris Head from the West of England Rural Network who had been working with parish councils in Devon and Somerset on the broadband project. Mr Head informed the meeting that the first step was to identify the location and type of the small local exchanges (green or grey boxes). The parishes could help with this work by mapping the boxes within their areas. A letter requesting that this work be carried out would arrive with the parishes shortly.

A representative from Freshford Parish Council said that their exchange was in the neighbouring county of Wiltshire and asked whether that would cause a problem. John Wilkinson replied that Wiltshire was also part of the national pilot, so they would be commissioning a provider on the same timescales who would deliver the same service across the county border.

A representative of Combe Hay Parish Council asked what the timescale was for the completion of the broadband project and was informed that, as B&NES had been able to link in with the already well-established Somerset and Devon scheme, it was hoped that there would be an early delivery date with roll-out starting in 2013. 

The Chief Executive added that B&NES will benefit from the economies of scale achieved by the larger counties – the Council does not need to contribute very much funding as it only represented a small percentage of the whole project.

Councillor Neil Butters (Bathavon South Ward) expressed concern that the claimed broadband speeds would not be achieved. John Wilkinson replied that, until the procurement was complete, it would be difficult to predict the final figures accurately, but that they did intend to achieve what had been promised.  A representative from Clutton added that to achieve 24MBpersecond would be a huge improvement.

Councillor David Veale (Bathavon West Ward) asked what the open market broadband speeds would be by 2020 and was informed that it was very difficult to predict. However, as B&NES are part of the pilot, the area would be ahead of many other parts of the country in terms of broadband speed.

Councillor David Bellotti (Cabinet Member for Finance and Property) informed the meeting that the choice for the Cabinet had been to partner with Bristol and South Gloucestershire at 85% capacity or join this cheaper scheme which had 100% coverage and was quicker.

The Chairman thanked the officer and Mr Head for their contribution.  A copy of the handout is attached to these minutes.