Our work to look at upgrading the Cybermoor broadband network has really started to pay off over the summer.
A customer survey carried out at the beginning of the year confirmed that at the top of customers' 'Wish List' was better speed and reliability from their broadband service.
Planning has been going on over the past year by the Cybermoor Board of Directors and team to increase the speed of services. Initially wireless services will be upgraded to offer faster speeds and this will be launched in the Autumn. The new system is currently on trial in Alston, Garrigill and Slaggyford and more details are at www.cybermoor.coop .
A feasibility study is also underway to offer fibre optic cable connections to customers. This will offer higher speeds plus TV and phone.
We want Alston to have the best connections in the country and be the first market town to have fibre optic cable. If we can bring this off it will be a real shot in the arm for Alston Moor.
The upgrade was recently cited in a report on upgrading the country's broadband, carried out for the government department BERR.
Although large telecoms companies are experimenting with fibre in larger cities, rural areas will be left in the cold unless they do it themselves. See BBC News for more information. OFCOM thinks rural areas could be first for these services.
Listen to coverage of Cybermoor's plans on Radio 4's iPM and on Radio Cumbria.
We are holding an event for existing social enterprises and new ones in June as part of our business with altitude project and you're invited!
You will have a “behind the scenes” look at some of Cumbria’s most innovative co-ops on Alston Moor on Friday 13th June.
The programme for the event covers
· visits to 3 award winning local co-ops
· buffet lunch from the Moody Baker
· opportunities to make links with other Cumbrian Co-ops and social enterprises
Download the full programme and booking form.
This is a follow up to the Making Links event for Cumbrian Co-operatives held at Penrith Co-op in February and organized jointly with the Business with Altitude project.
Numbers are limited to 20 because there is not much space at some of the enterprises and we have already received some pre-bookings. Please fill out the registration form and return it as soon as possible to be guaranteed a place.
More details of the project at www.businesswithaltitude.org.uk
Having stayed in Newcastle last night, we drove back over to Alston first thing. I headed over to our new offices in the town hall and I had a quick catch up with the team on how the broadband projects are going. I returned a call to someone who was writing an article about wireless broadband and had a long conversation about the definition of social enterprise. I had to explain that we are a NOT a "non-proifit" organisation but that we make profits which are reinvested back into the business. In the end he decided not to mention Cybermoor which was probably for the best. Then it was a meeting at the Alston Community Gym where our healthcare project manager was providing cover. I caught up on where we were with the project, in particular the upgrade of the radiography equipment that the PCT had rececntly offered to pay for. I enjoyed a particularly delicious smoked haddock and spring onion pie from the Moody Baker
for lunch.
In the afternoon I had to catch up on e-mails. Veronica, one of our website customers http://www.npenninemusic.co.uk/ was interested in driving her site up the google search lists so I spent some time on that. Then I revised the spec for the new health project manager when Maggie leaves at the end of March.
In the evening it was a horror show on ITV4 as Everton lost 2-0 to Fiorentina in the UEFA cup - Goodnight Vienna!
I met with Claire Poulter, who is putting together a plan for the combined delivery of social care and healthcare in Cumbria. She explained some of the complexities of the process she is involved with and we visited the Old people's home and hospital to show her what Alston has.
She was interested in support for people to take part in e-health (possibilities for Pentalk here!)
In the afternoon I took part in an advice session in Gateshead on broadband. Rural B&Bs and a farmer from Hadrians Wall made up half of the group. I demonstrated the benefits of Skype and internet phone calls.
It struck me that there are plenty of people who still have no idea about the internet and don't want to learn! I'm now sat in a pub in Newcastle after the talk, blogging on my laptop using the pub's free wireless connection.
Today was spent at a meeting with Cuedoc in Penrith working on our project to deliver video links between the minor injuries unit at Alston Hospital and Penrith hospital.
The service will reduce the number of visits that patients have to make to Penrith and Carlisle, reducing the cost of treating them as well.
We are fortunate to have a great team in the community hospital in Alston and we are doing what we can to make sure that the hospital has a good future.
After getting back to Alston, I had to put together a report on our Business with Altitude project which supports social enterprises in Alston. Finally I met with a colleague to go through issues on the funding of the project. This is a tortuous process and has been going on since last June, trying to sort out what is eligible expenditure for the European Commission.
Today started when our 6 month old baby, Ben, woke me up at 5.55am, not that early for most farmers but a bit too early for me!
After breakfast I logged on and picked up e-mails.
We are part of a consortium looking at telecare across the EU and we are currently negotiating with the European Commission to fund a pilot in Cumbria. Our European partners often interpret things differently to us and now we are getting close to a deal, we are having to sort out the details. That took up a fair amount of time, then I headed over to the office. We all work flexibly at Cybermoor - using the Alston wireless network we can log on from pretty much anywhere with our laptops to check e-mails and make phone calls.
At lunchtime we had a special general meeting for Cybermoor and I met with one of the Directors afterwards to discuss http://www.cybermoor.tv/. We recently carried out a survey of what our users thought of it and we now have to respond to the findings.
In the afternoon, I had a long meeting with some academics from Leeds and Sheffield who are researching the use of technology. We took a walk around Alston and I showed them our broadband antennas and explained the complexities of managing Cybermoor broadband in Alston and the nearby Dales (http://www.cybermoor.coop/)
After responding to some e-mail queries about our NHS project and it was time to call it a day. Then I bumped into someone on the street and had a long chat about funding for a website project we are doing with Alston Sheep Show!
