CUMBRIA County Council could find itself in a lose-lose situation over rural broadband.


The decision to exclude part of Dent from the nationwide BT broadband roll-out was called-in for scrutiny and will be evaluated by cabinet on Thursday, February 5.


If it decides to reverse its decision, the council would risk upsetting 580 homeowners who stand to obtain superfast broadband under Fibre GarDen, compared to just 193 under BT's proposals.


But if the council upholds its decision it faces concerns that Fibre GarDen may not actually be deliverable as they have been denied access to vital backhaul cables by Network Rail and they could face a £70,000 compensation bill from BT.


It could also set a precedent that the council will support broadband initiatives in other rural locations.


In 2013, the national government awarded BT with all the contracts in England and Wales to provide broadband access to the majority of UK homes - known locally as Connecting Cumbria.


BT said it would provide a fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) service whereby old-fashioned copper connections would lead from a green cabinet located in a town or village into people's homes.


The problem is that the further a home is from a cabinet, the slower its broadband speed will be.


Dent and Garsdale residents wanted a quicker fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) service which runs fibre directly to the premises, so they set up Fibre GarDen.


In May 2014, the county council voted to remove certain postcodes in Dent from the Connecting Cumbria plans so they could join Fibre GarDen, which went on to secure £382,500 of funding from the Government’s £20m Rural Community Broadband Fund and £35,000 from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Sustainable Development Fund.


By completion, the project is expected to cost £650,000.


But on Thursday, February 5, cabinet members could decide to reinstate all of Dent as part of the Connecting Cumbria scheme and leave Fibre GarDen dead in the water.


Kirkby Stephen councillor Libby Bateman championed the successful Fell End Broadband Project but has serious concerns about Fibre Garden.


She said: "I’ve been a supporter of the Fibre GarDen project from its inception as it is the ultimate ‘build and benefit’ community broadband project. 


"However, I have concerns about the deliverability of the project and that issue doesn’t appear to have been considered during the decision to remove the area from the main Connecting Cumbria project. 


"Connecting Cumbria has already spent public money installing a cabinet in the middle of Dent that is ready to connect 193 properties in the village to Superfast Broadband; that money will have been wasted if the de-scoping goes ahead. 


"There is also a risk that the Council’s supplier will pursue the Council for loss of income on the investment.


"This is a risk that the ruling cabinet must weigh up against the potential to bring in additional investment and connect more properties, but they must consider that risk with the correct information.

 
"If the county council descope and Fibre GarDen are not able to deliver then the community of Dent will be left with nothing and the county council will be left with a substantial bill to have delivered nothing."


Speaking exclusively to the Gazette, Chair of Fibre GarDen Andrew Fleck said: "The backhaul is secure - we have a new contract provider which is arguably better than before.

"We are providing competition to BT and we are cheaper - that must be a good thing."

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