News archive: Services
November 29th, 2011
Author: Chris Conder
Posted In: Archive News
The service we provide is a 1000 megabit symmetrical per second (same upload as download speeds) connection for £30 month to every HOME. There will be a £150 connection fee. There will be a higher charge for businesses with more than 5 employees. Contact us for details. accounts@b4rn.org.uk We also provide a 10Gigabit service on request.
If you wish to take a service please fill in the registration form, today.
B4RN needs your support to succeed.
Below, we explain the benefits of a 1Gbps fibre optic connection as opposed to what is currently available,
and what is likely to become available over the next 5-10 years in this area.
B4RN does not entertain small improvements still on asymmetric services, it is a giant step forward to expandable symmetric services to provide
e.g. two way video without freezing. The nation requires this type of service instead of continual expensive minor improvements.
This job needs doing correctly once only and we are ideally placed to be one of the leaders without the commercial hindrance
using a unique business model unavailable in urban areas.
Your agreement to take a service from B4RN means that this project can commence and put our area of Lancashire “light years” ahead
of other UK areas as well as rural communities around the world.
Please Register your interest today.
Why fibre optics?
Speed of service
Symmetrical Service
Distance
Fibre In The Home
Reliability
Telephone
Add Value to your Home
Why Fibre optics?
It is a globally accepted fact that fibre optics are the only solution that will deliver the communications services that we already need
to compete in world markets, not just now but also far into the future.
Fibre optics already feature widely in communications networks, with enormous undersea cables linking all the continents and fibres traversing
vast swathes of the world’s landmass. They provide the capacity required for 21st century telecommunications, including mobile links.
However, the problem has been that the fibre optics also need to reach every property, known as the “first mile” to prevent a bottleneck.
To date, UK industry has been largely reluctant to make that investment in FTTH (Fibre To The Home) or FTTP (Fibre To The Premises)
as there just so much urban legacy equipment to replace.
Rural areas have been starved of acceptable communications infrastructure in the past so can now take advantage of that position.
It all depends just how much profit you need to make, and B4RN, as a community benefit company, will demonstrate that
sustainability AND profitability from rural FTTH is possible with income over expenditure being returned to the community.
FTTH = Capacity + Sustainability + Savings + Green
Speed of Service
Currently most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offers broadband customers a range of different asymmetric speeds with services limited by commercial strangleholds imposed upon them.
B4RN is not limited in this way: it will offer a single symmetric service of 1 Gbps** symmetrical. , i.e. upload and download speeds both at 1Gbps.
** 1 Gigabit per second = 1000 megabits per second
Current connections in the UK range from around 100 Kilo bps (difficult to even call broadband) through an average of 6.8Mbps nationwide, to Virgin Media’s 50 – 120 Mbps services available to 50% of the country. There is an economy of scale in using 1Gbps components (more widely available around the world than100Mbps components) and 1 Gbps is the level of connectivity that the future will demand. The fibre we are laying to each property can operate at 1Gbs and 10 Gbs today, and 100 Gbs shortly when cheaper optics are developed. It is impossible to envisage any applications emerging over the next 25 years which we could not support with at most a change of optical drivers. This is true future proofing using a non-degrading and noise immune material.
Symmetrical Services.
Consumers are becoming creators. Youtube is a prime example of this shift with much of the content being created on home video cameras and mobile phones.
There is more to symmetry though than home movies. It will prove vital as we move to next generation applications and services.
For instance Cloud computing means that your data is held on virtual storage out there somewhere in the Internet.
But to use Cloud services you need to be able to upload and download your files at least as quickly as you could to your hard disc.
Without a symmetric service such facilities are practically unusable.
Similarly, applications like voice and video conferencing are two way processes. With Skype a voice call takes little bandwidth and can fit into an asymmetric service's upload capacity, but move to their new video conferencing and use an HD camera on your computer and suddenly the load shifts up a gear and is unworkable without symmetry. As more and more people realise that HD quality video conferencing will let them get together with family and friends around the world, demand for bandwidth will soar even more than it is now doing.
Distance
Have you been told that your property is “too far from the exchange?” when requesting a broadband service. Many people have experienced this
frustration. B4RN has no such distance limitations. The standard fibre-optics used in the design can reach out to properties up to 10 Km from the hub.
All B4RN properties are designed to be within that distance.
Broadband over existing copper wires cannot and will not be able to deliver 1 Gbps over those distances.
Fibre in your home
You will be able to connect any of the devices you currently use – routers, TV, computers, video cameras, gaming consoles and so on simply by plugging into a 4 port Gigabit switch linked to the fibre optic cable.As well as the standard four ports switch a range of optional extra equipment will be offered which can be plugged into it to give wireless (WiFi) access, VoIP (i.e. telephone) ports, firewalls, routing, NAT and other services. Also we are looking at the possibility of offering FemtoCells for enhanced mobile phone access within and around properties.
Reliability
Fibre optic networks require a minimum of maintenance and does not suffer from corrosion or unreliable connections. The equipment has been developed to meet the stringent requirements of global enterprises, often supporting millions of users, so reliability is key. Such unreliable disconnections and downtime, slow speeds all become a thing of the past with FTTH.
Telephone Service
OFCOM has recommended that fibre delivered high speed broadband has a battery backup in the customer’s premises capable of maintaining service for up to an hour should mains power fail. This allows VoIP telephony services (as well as battery powered laptops etc.) to continue when the power fails in the same way as a standard landline telephone. This in turn will allow users to give up their landlines, something which urban broadband users are obliged to retain at additional expense.A battery supply will be included as part of the B4RN standard service so that those wishing to relinquish their landlines and save the line rental can do so. We will offer a VoIP telephony service and you will be able to move your existing landline number across to our system. There are a number of commercial telephony providers who offer attractive packages of inclusive calls using VoIP systems and these will all operate reliably over our network until the community sets up its own service.
Add Value to Your Home
Build a conservatory, convert the attic, add a double garage, refit the kitchen – we all know these add value to your home. Add a FTTH connection and you can add between 3-5% to your property value according to industry research, as well as giving you the flexibility of running your business from home.
FTTH is the best value home improvement you will ever carry out and will make selling your home far easier as more people need a “fat pipe” to live, work and play in the 21st century.
LIGHT UP YOUR LIFE with B4RN - register your interest TODAY!