Rory welcomes Cybermoor’s tenth anniversary as its fibre-optic Community Share Offer raises funds for infrastructure development
Rory has congratulated Alston Moor’s Cybermoor – “the UK’s first rural fibre-optic community” – on its tenth anniversary, as it enters an exciting new phase of broadband development. Residents and businesses of England’s highest market town on remote Alston Moor in Rory Stewart’s Cumbrian constituency are in line to receive high-speed fibre connections for the next 30 years, heralding faster downloads, better information sharing and enhanced access to telehealth and telecare services and other benefits to the community.
Cybermoor Networks will provide a basis for future investment in digital infrastructure on Alston Moor, building on the existing network and using the latest fibre-optic and wireless technologies. Cybermoor is now seeking pledges to raise an investment of £100,000 by the end of March 2012 in order to complement the £300,000 already secured from the Rural Development Programme for England, and is looking to attract investors from across the UK. The Community Share Offer requires a minimum investment of £100 with an initial 3 year commitment.
Rory said: “Cybermoor has set such high standards of broadband connectivity in rural areas that it is known nationally for all it has achieved. We kicked off our superfast broadband campaign in 2010 with an event in Alston, where broadband Minister Ed Vaizey joined me in paying tribute to its ground-breaking work. Now we want to attract investment for more – literally – ground-breaking advances, with a target of £100,000 of community pledges to purchase and dig fibre-optic cable, demonstrating that communities can build their own fibre broadband networks using local people and finance. I’m extremely excited about the Cybermoor Community Share Offer and the role it will play in bringing new investment to support the development of this vital digital infrastructure.”
Daniel Heery, Cybermoor Project Manager said: “This is a great opportunity for people to invest in a company that will bring benefits to the whole community. A fibre-optic cable network at the heart of the community will provide high capacity connections to residents and businesses on Alston Moor for the next 30 years, helping to attract people and businesses who want to live in a rural area and benefit from high speed connections. This is a chance to own part of the UK’s first co-operative fibre optic network.”
The fibre network will initially cover the most populous parts of Alston Moor, starting with the centre of Alston town itself and including The Firs, Church Road, Jollybeard and Church Road, but will be extended to cover more remote areas as more investment is raised. Cybermoor Networks will benefit from the expertise already developed by the Cybermoor team and aims to work with local contractors and draw on support from the local community as much as possible to keep costs down (up to 75% of the prices charged by large operators).
The share offer document can be accessed at www.cybermoornetworks.org. If you would like to find out more about how to invest, contact the Cybermoor office on 01434 382 808 or e-mail [email protected] .
