Rory updated delegates on advances in Cumbrian broadband, joining five of Cumbria’s six MPs at the DODS conference “Cumbria 2012 and Beyond” at Carlisle Racecourse on Friday. The Westminster representatives met alongside Cumbria’s local authorities and businesses, the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, and various other local organisations in a wide-ranging event that sought to address […]
Chris Elphick of Ravenstonedale Parish Council and its Fell End Community Broadband project have reached the final for a TalkTalk Digital Heroes award. Cumbrians who are interested should register their vote in the national competition to find a local ‘digital hero’ for the north-west. TalkTalk’s search for the nation’s Digital Heroes has discovered three worthy […]
Long-time broadband campaigner Rory has nominated Ravenstonedale Parish Council, accountable body for the Fell End Community Broadband project, for the national TalkTalk Digital Heroes awards of 2012. The annual awards are run by TalkTalk in association with Citizens Online and ‘Go ON UK’, and will be given to twelve winners voted for by the public, […]
At a conference lunch on Friday organised by Cumbria’s Chamber of Commerce at Shap Wells Hotel, Rory asked for local businesses to support his efforts to get better broadband provision for the county, in what he described as “the single most important factor to improving Cumbria’s economy”. The event brought together businesses, educational institutions and […]
At last. The broadband contract for Cumbria has been awarded. Good broadband and mobile coverage can transform farms and businesses, improve conditions for the isolated and the elderly, and much more. Nothing would make a greater single contribution to our economy, growth, or services. But it has been painfully difficult to deliver. Companies won’t do […]
Rory has heralded the new 41 Million contract for broadband in Cumbria as a ‘giant step’ in his three year campaign to win Cumbria the best rural broadband in Europe. He welcomed the investment decision, saying ‘we need now to get broadband to people as soon as possible – it is vital for our rural […]
Rory has welcomed news that the Fell End Rural Community Broadband Project – based in a small corner of Ravenstonedale Parish – has sent out its Invitation to Tender and is now close to going out to procurement, which will ultimately connect an isolated community of 58 properties, covering an area of approximately 10 square miles, to […]
Rory is encouraging constituents to participate in this year’s Digital Heroes Awards, following on from his successful nomination last year of East Cumbria Community Broadband Forum chairman Libby Bateman, who won the top prize for the north-west region. The Digital Heroes Awards, run in partnership with the Daily Mirror and charities Citizens Online and Go […]
Rory’s long parliamentary campaign to bring mobile coverage to rural areas celebrated a milestone today, as telecoms regulator Ofcom unveiled plans for the auction of fourth generation (4G) bandwidth for mobile phone services. The long-awaited sales process comes as a direct result of Rory’s historic Backbench Business Committee debate in May 2011, when he introduced […]
Penrith and the Border MP Rory Stewart this week gave evidence to the House of Lords Communications Committee’s inquiry into superfast broadband, citing Cumbrian community models as examples of how Government can save money and connect wide stretches of remote rural communities at a fraction of projected costs. The inquiry, which ran for two days […]