Pioneering bid to bring Herefordshire its own broadband internet service (From Hereford Times)

Hereford Diocese boosts pioneering bid to bring Herefordshire its own broadband internet service

9:00am Friday 25th September 2009 in News By Bill Tanner

A BIG show of faith from Hereford Diocese is boosting belief in the pioneering bid to bring Herefordshire its very own broadband internet service.

In what could be a UK first, the Church of England’s Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC), governing the use of church buildings in the county, this week gave a tacit go-ahead to steeples being used as relay stations for the super-speed service.

Top county company Allpay, based on Whitestone business park, is ready to roll out its trials of the service on the back of “very pleasing”

results from tests so far.

The DAC decision is a big boost to the bid.

Committee members – including representatives from English Heritage and architectural circles – said they saw no problem with the system’s use of cereal boxsized receivers on steeples, where previous precedent for churches as transmitters primarily applies to mast and tower technology.

Herefordshire’s broadband connections are among the worst in the country but the county currently has little choice but to go it alone without any commitment to improvement from BT.

Anni Holden, spokesman for Hereford Diocese, said the DAC decision was about overall principle and did not cover the licence agreements that would be needed with individual churches.

“This is the start of the process, the committee and the diocese now wants more information on the technical side before making any kind of formal commitment,” she said.

Allpay boss Tony Killeen praised the diocese for its “progressive decision” and pledged to protect the “precious and historic” nature of the churches involved.

“We now have a wonderful opportunity to broadbandenable the most remote areas of our county without the need for telecommunications masts and cables, and we look forward to building on our relationship with the diocese and individual churches in the future,” he said.

As reported by the Hereford Times, Allpay first pitched its project to Herefordshire Council in July after a yearlong trial in rural Italy.

Tests of the system have since been underway in Kingstone and Monkland – two communities with broadband issues common across the county – with results so far looking promising.

If successful, the system will be rolled out countywide as the basis of a bespoke subscriber- based network.

Herefordshire Council is enthusiastic about the Allpay project, although no commercial deals have been done. And Whitehall is watching too, with one eye on how the project might apply to rural communities across the country under the recently announced Digital Britain initiative.

Council representatives are to meet with BT again next month to explore more options for the wider provision of networks across the county.