A group of individual community leaders from across the Somer Valley are this week backing the local Chamber of Commerce and the B&NES Business Growth Team to try and achieve Full Fibre connectivity locally. The initiative, it is hoped, will be vital in ensuring our local High Streets are not left behind in a digital age.

Tina Veater, Chair of the Somer Valley Chamber of Commerce, told The Journal this week: “The aim is to challenge the seeming acceptance of the existing low speeds, and to raise the level of aspiration by encouraging the community to work together and spread the word.

“Good Fibre connectivity is already a vital service for businesses alongside other utilities – but as software applications grow, higher and higher speeds won’t just become the norm – they’ll be a necessity of everyday business life.”

“There is a very real opportunity right now, thanks to a new Government Voucher Scheme, covering B&NES and Bristol, whereby local businesses in the Somer Valley are now eligible for up to £3,000 to get gigabit broadband installed as part of a £2 million trial taking place in four areas around the UK.”

“Overall, the aim of the pilot is to encourage the market to extend full fibre infrastructure in the UK, by increasing demand and reducing the cost to customers,” said Paul Myers, Mayor of Midsomer Norton (in a personal capacity).

“The issue is that previous schemes have targeted either the cities, which the Somer Valley didn’t qualify for, or rural areas which we’ve missed out on, as 80% of the Somer Valley residents live in the five main settlements of Midsomer Norton, Peasedown St John, Westfield, Radstock or Paulton.

“Then, when you look at broadband speeds in the Somer Valley, you see that it is, at best, patchy, and that most people simply put up with incredibly slow speeds.”

Cllr Karen Walker, from Peasedown St John Parish Council and B&NES Independent for the village is also backing the scheme, (in a personal capacity). “The problem is that this is holding businesses back in our area,” she added.

So what is the impact of low speeds? In places like Midsomer Norton High Street, the majority of shops simply cannot run online businesses to complement their physical shop, because the speeds are so slow. The lower High Street area is prevented from getting higher speeds because by using the traditional copper links, there is no cabinet, and they are described as being ‘too close to the exchange’.

“Homeworkers in the valley struggle to work with low speeds. On the industrial estates such as Westfield, businesses are paying over the odds to have dedicated leased lines. All this is holding back the economy of the Somer Valley, as fibre services offer the best employment impetus given the poor state of the transport infrastructure. In short, working to get a state-of-the-art fibre network in the valley is vital – not just for now, but for the future, if locally we are to benefit from the digital revolution,” said Bryan Wallbridge, of Westfield Parish Council (in a personal capacity).

So what would Gigabit speeds allow businesses to do that they can’t do already? A full fibre gigabit connection would allow businesses to upload and download massive files in a matter of seconds, and enable widespread use of things like videoconferencing. It would provide an unprecedented level of reliability, whilst greatly enhancing resilience and future proofing – making sure that businesses have the technology in place to deal with the ever-increasing demands for internet speed and connectivity.

“Gigabit speeds would also allow businesses and home workers in communities like the Somer Valley to compete on a technologically level playing field with those companies based in major cities who may already have full fibre connectivity,” said Cllr Anne Lyons of Paulton Parish Council (in a personal capacity).

The trial voucher Scheme will only allow vouchers to be used to help pay for new connections that are ‘gigabit capable’ – gigabit means a minimum of 100mbs upload and download speeds via full fibre connections, compared to superfast, which has a maximum of 25mbs.

“So if we can get Gigabit capable connections delivered in this way across the Somer Valley, they will be future-proof, and have the capability to provide incredibly fast and reliable broadband connections,” said Cllr Keith Tyrrell, Mayor of Radstock (also in a personal capacity).

£2 million has been made available for vouchers for the test phase across the four areas on a first come, first served basis – so as a community we need to get our skates on and get businesses to apply for vouchers before the money runs out, or at the latest by March 2019. Businesses in the same building or business park can pool vouchers, subject to conditions.

To find out more and register for your voucher, visit the Somer Valley Chamber of Commerce website at: www.Somervalleychamber.com