Lewisham Wireless Broadband Project

Draft Feasibility Study Proposal

4th March 2004

The London Borough of Lewisham has identified the potential of wireless broadband to provide remote and mobile access to corporate systems and to deliver high bandwidth services to enhance economic and creative opportunities in Deptford. Council officers have gone one step further and identified the potential for social enterprise to provide the mechanism for delivering a local broadband service, harnessing the enthusiasm and creativity of the community. This feasibility study proposal seeks to evaluate both the technical and social enterprise aspects of a new Wireless Broadband Project in Lewisham.

The ultimate aim of the project is to create an area of total wireless coverage in the project area (see map 1), referred to by L.B. Lewisham officers as the “Wi-Fi Lake”. The key objective of the feasibility study is to demonstrate how this can be achieved.

The aims of the Feasibility Study are to:

  1. Report on ways in which providing a wireless broadband access network in Deptford can contribute to meeting the strategic objectives of the NOMAD project, L.B. Lewisham, the community, SMEs and new start-ups.
  2. Develop a technical specification for a community-based wifi broadband “Lake”.
  1. Put together a costed and timed project plan, which will identify all the key deliverables, list contractors capable of installing the necessary hardware, service providers who can supply necessary connections, identify customer support suppliers. It will also propose a project management and evaluation team who would be responsible for delivering the project and reporting on progress.
  1. Examine the feasibility of setting up a local social enterprise to deliver the wireless broadband service, including model rules, processes of formation, management and membership.
  1. Demonstrate how a social enterprise approach to wireless broadband can succeed and to examine issues of long-term sustainability as well as ways of generating a number of spin off activities related to training, addressing the digital divide and community cohesion.
  1. Identify key actors who can form an expert reference group who will advise on the implementation of the project.

1.A Broadband Social Enterprise for Lewisham

Social enterprise is increasingly seen as a mechanism for communities to aggregate demand and organise local broadband services. Initially focused on the problems of broadband access, particularly in rural areas, some of the better established community broadband initiatives are now leading the way in developing new broadband services, technology and training to create tangible social and economic benefits. Most of these projects have used a combination of wireless and satellite technology to deliver broadband services in communities that are hard to reach by ADSL.

The strength of social enterprise has been recognised by government with strong encouragement from Stephen Timms and other ministers. Recently the DTI and DEFRA jointly funded the creation of the Community Broadband Network to promote and support social enterprise broadband initiatives.

On 1st May 2003 during the debate on broadband in Parliament, Stephen Timms paid tribute to the social enterprises approach taken in Alston, Cumbria. He said, “Local residents have taken the initiative by adopting a social enterprise model, and have registered as a co-operative that other residents can join and help to develop. They have mutualised the public sector investment, and other communities could benefit from looking carefully at that example.”

The Lewisham project differs from most other broadband social enterprise initiatives in that ADSL is available throughout the borough and the driver is to introduce wireless services to meet specific local goals – the NOMAD project and to support the development of creative industries in Deptford.

However the Lewisham project can benefit from social enterprise by taking an inclusive, community-orientated approach that harnesses the skills and enthusiasm of local people to provide creative, affordable services over a high bandwidth platform. Without doubt it is an innovative project whose success will be regarded as a beacon for other communities.

1.2Community Broadband Initiatives

Community broadband can be broadly categorised in three ways:

  • Campaigns to meet BT trigger levels for ADSL services. There are now thousands of people campaigning to meet BT trigger levels in rural areas. These campaigns have been successful in promoting the benefits of broadband within their communities and aggregating demand for service provision. Some, like the Calder Connect co-op in Yorkshire, have gone one step further by organising a community enterprise to provide the service, once the local exchange has been enabled. They are also working to provide wireless broadband to outlying areas.
  • The community self-provision model. Pioneered by groups like Consume, the self-provision model relies on individuals offering wireless broadband access using ADSL or other backhaul services on an ad hoc basis, effectively creating local hotspots. This is a genuinely bottom-up approach facilitated by cheap wifi equipment and a desire to offer access to friends and neighbours. Currently more than 30 nodes in the Lewisham area are listed on the Consume.net website alone.
  • Community broadband networks. Operating on a social enterprise model (community co-op or company limited by guarantee) these networks combine elements of aggregation with self-provision in a community enterprise framework, seeking to deliver or procure service and share costs for the benefit of the whole community.

The Lewisham project will combine elements of each of these approaches to create a local broadband co-op that aggregates demand and organises broadband services –specifically wireless broadband – in a way that harnesses local enthusiasm and meets Council priorities.

1.3The Wireless Broadband Platform

Although ADSL and cable services dominate the fixed broadband access market it is commonly acknowledged in the industry that the current generation of ADSL services will not deliver the benefits of broadband over the longer term.

In his speech to the Communications Management Association Conference on 16th February 2004, Lord Currie, chairman of OFCOM, said:

“As a Nation we have set ourselves a target for the roll-out of 'broadband' without having the physical infrastructure for a true broadband access network in place. We can stretch the Plain Old Telephone Services to being a mid-band network. And DSL is that 'stretch' on copper wire. But true broadband it ain't.

“DSL At 512k is a convenience product. A useful help to individuals and SMEs. But it is not the major, life-changing experience that broadband should be. It should be like Caxton's printing press. We may have become fixated on roll out at the expense of what it is we, as a society, need.”

The ‘major, life-changing’ experiences are now starting to be found in those communities that have opted for services that provide far higher bandwidth. The example quoted by Stephen Timms, in the small town of Alston in Cumbria, now has nearly 30% of local households connected to the community-owned wireless network. They have developed engaging community broadband services including multimedia content. The impact on education, on jobs and inward investment is now being felt – and as importantly, measured.

In recognition of the explosion in wireless networking driven by low cost equipment and unlicensed (or lightly licensed) spectrum, Lord Currie went on to say: “The key point about the broadband inflection is that it doesn't have to be wired. It can be wireless too.” One of the first decisions that OFCOM took was to allocate newly released spectrum for wireless broadband services.

The Lewisham project offers an opportunity to demonstrate how wireless broadband proposition can meet local objectives within a community enterprise framework that supports the development of creative industries and flexible access to corporate services for mobile workers.

2.Feasibility Study Outputs

2.1Review Existing Strategies and Identify a Framework for Delivery. LB Lewisham has developed wireless strategies and pilot projects. The feasibility study will examine these in collaboration with officers to ensure that the approach taken is consistent with policy objectives and existing experience. This will ensure that the scope of the project, its timescale and resources are defined from the outset.

2.2Define a community network agenda for the Deptford area in 2004/5, in support of local social enterprise initiatives to build and run high speed network infrastructure and offer multiple public WLAN gateways (hotspots) that present local media, information and messaging resources as well as wideband internet connection for all.

2.3Identify and examine a ‘model’ mesh WLAN network system of hardware and software to be deployed across the Pilot area and how training, development and support of the network infrastructure and user equipment can be arranged.

2.4Identify suitable and scaleable backhaul options to provide broadband Internet gateways across the enterprise area.

2.5Seek the engagement and co-operation of local individuals, groups and institutions who can demonstrate a will to sustain support for a pilot period of network building, training and exchange of not less than 12 months (although training requirements must be met from other funding streams). These will form the core group of members of the social enterprise. The aim should be for the social enterprise to sustain itself in the long term by independent fund raising and sharing of costs amongst its members.

2.6Identify suitable systems for project management and financial accounting to illustrate the development and utility of the network, build the case for sustainable community networks in Lewisham and a model for public scrutiny and adoption.

2.7Identify existing facilities and resources available and make recommendations about meeting community needs e.g. a fixed and accessible location in Deptford where those interested will have questions answered, get assistance, source equipment, connect to the network, contribute to the process, and help one another.

2.8Provide an outline for the creation of a local social enterprise - information on constitution and formation; management, membership, advisory board and business plan development. The key issue will be to calculate the requirements for long-term sustainability of the project.

2.9Identify sources of support for social enterprise development – e.g. the Community Broadband Network, Social Enterprise London, Community Action Network and local support services.

2.10Provide information about a successful social enterprise approach to wireless broadband provision and the social and economic impacts that accrue. The most successful broadband social enterprise, Alston Cybermoor, is about to publish the results of an evaluation of the social and economic impacts of the project in their community.

3.Project Management & Reporting

The feasibility study team will report to a named officer of LB Lewisham. During the feasibility study process we will seek to identify the most appropriate approach for managing the full project to meet defined objectives of scope, timescale and resources in the context of a public, private, community partnership.

4.Advisory Group

This is an innovative project that is already attracting support from a number of key individuals. During the course of the feasibility study we will construct an advisory group capable of advising on technical, social enterprise and sustainability issues. A list of individuals who have been approached informally is appended.

5.Feasibility Study Budget

Technical consultancy / £4000
Network consultancy / £2000
Social enterprise planning and development / £4000
Project management and administration / £1000
Expenses and documentation / £1000
Total / £12000

Prices quoted are exclusive of VAT.

6.Contractual Arrangements

The contracting party for the feasibility study will be the Community Broadband Network. Malcolm Corbett will lead on the social enterprise aspects of the project, James Stevens will lead on the technical aspects. Locustworld, the leading supplier of wireless mesh broadband technology, will be consulted on the development of a wireless mesh network. Other consultants will be engaged as required by the feasibility study project.

7. Feasibility Study Deliverables and Timetable

The feasibility study report will be presented as an electronic document in an agreed format to the lead officer for L.B. Lewisham.

The timetable for the feasibility study will be agreed with L.B. Lewisham.

Project Advisory Group

Initial approaches have been made to the following individuals:

Richard Landor,

CEO, Locustworld.

Tel:

Malcolm J Matson

National TeleCable Ltd

Daniel Heery

Director, Alston Cybermoor

Adam Burns

Runs free2air a well developed community network in Hackney

Armin Medosch

A writer and researcher specialising in WLAN and the freenetwork movement

John Wilson

Founder of the Arwain community network in Cardiff, chair of the newly formed wireless policy group of the Welsh Broadband Stakeholder Group and Executive Member of the Access to Broadband Campaign.

Brian Condon

Telecoms specialist and CEO of the Access to Broadband Campaign.

Shaun Fensom

Head of Internet Services for the Phone Coop, developing aggregation services for community broadband networks.

Tel: 0161 906 3830

Malcolm Corbett, Community Broadband Network,

James Stevens, SPC,

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