About Northern Fells Broadband
High-speed broadband is the name given to the technology behind the next generation of telecommunications, including telephone, internet, television, home entertainment, and a whole host of mobile technologies. Most of our future services will be designed to make use of this massive capability and if we don’t have it we will lose out.
In October 2010 four rural areas in the UK were selected to pilot superfast broadband - Cumbria, the Highlands and Islands, North Yorkshire and Herefordshire. Each of these areas will receive funding from BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK) and in Cumbria the County Council has taken responsibility for this funding under the project name Accessible Cumbria: the proposed aim is 'to deliver a first class broadband network across the whole of Cumbria'.
What isn’t clear at this moment is how much funding will be finally offered and how far the connectivity will extend.
What is clear is that in order to make sure that we are not left behind we need to take community action.
An organisation has been established, known as Northern Fells Broadband, consisting of residents of the seven parishes. It has a Steering Committee comprising two representatives from each of the seven parishes of the Northern Fells.
The stated objective of the group is "To secure the universal availability of ‘next-generation’ high-speed broadband throughout the seven parishes referred to as the Northern Fells."
By universal availability we mean every household and every business.