Colne Valley Fibre

Our immediate goal is to deliver a state of the art high speed high quality optical fibre communications network for the Colne Valley in Pennine West Yorkshire. This network will be owned and controlled by the local community through a cooperative organisation.

In addition to the substantial benefits to the local community, the network will also act as a proof of concept, providing clear evidence that a small scale locally owned fibre network can be profitable and sustainable without the need for ongoing public sector support. As such it can be used as a pilot to facilitate replication and scaling up in order to enable other communities, especailly across Kirklees and the South Pennines, to enjoy those same benefits.

We see the project rolling out broadly as follows:

• Phase One: Establishment
  Pulling together a steering group, identifying and securing initial funding, developing key relationships, building awareness.
• Phase Two: Feasibility and Business Planning
  In order to roll out a network of any scale we need to establish the business case, and have a clear business plan.
• Phase Three: Service Provider Relationships
  For the network to really deliver on its potential we need to be able to offer users a solid range of services, ranging from conventional triple-play (telephone/TV/internet) through to more specialized services.
• Phase Four: Financing and Procurement
  Securing the major financing required, and establishing contracts with the companies that will build the network for us.
• Phase Five: Deployment
  Putting the fibre into place along with all the other infrastructure needed to operate a next generation optical network.
• Phase Six: Commissioning
  Lighting the fibre, connecting the users. turning the whole thing on.

Once commissioned, the initial development project will be complete and we move into the operational stage of the business: delivering state of the art connectivity services to our customer/members, whilst maintaining and developing our network.

Other key issues along the road will include forming the corporate vehicle (or vehicles) required. Ownership of the network by the people, businesses and organisations that will use it day to day is central to our approach.