Plan My Project - Case Studies

The Wychwoods Community Area Network

The Wychwoods Community Network was developed to give satellite broadband access to a large rural area including 9 villages. At the time the project was conceived, there was no intention by BT to provide broadband in the area. There is no cable provision and the only available solution at the time was a satellite/wireless option. Broadband access was needed by small rural businesses, home workers, those seeking improved educational opportunities; and those wanting access to community services online. The project aimed to provide low cost broadband to meet these needs. The £68,000 project was originated by the local business community who set up Oxfordshire Rural Broadband Ltd. Local businesses were involved from the start and became directors of the company. From the outset the project experienced competition and disturbance by Rural Sat Services (RSS) who broadcast above their legal signal strength making it impossible for ORB customers to receive broadband. It proved impossible to negotiate a joint project and as a result take up of the ORB project definitely suffered. The project team comprised a number of strong individuals but there was no clear leader. Each had strong technical skills but they differed over the technical solutions. This led to conflict and reduced effectiveness. Only two of the original board remained involved until completion of the project. Although the team of people had high level technical skills and appeared to have the necessary skills to run the project; they were lacking in business skills, especially marketing and promotion. As a result the project recruited fewer customers than it could have, and suffered delays due to lack of focus. The project met its objective to provide broadband to local businesses. It recruited sufficient customers to be viable but could have recruited more with better marketing. Initially there was a strong community drive to get broadband. Once that had been achieved the "community" dissolved and individuals made their own decisions. There was little loyalty to the project and many went to BT once their broadband service became available. The longer term impact of this project has been reduced due to BT introducing broadband in the area. The project was sustainable when it was conceived and still manages to be self financing although it has lost many of the original subscribers. It is doubtful if it will continue to thrive as members take up other, more competitive, broadband offers.

To see the full evaluation report for this project click here.

To email the project manager click here.

To see other case studies click here.