Exciting times ahead, especially for those of us with that can do attitude that’s the foundation for success. Things are happening fast:
- the Scottish Government has just announced the birth of a Scottish Investment Bank, with a £200M seed capital available shortly;
- Local Councils are strapped for cash by an ideological austerity imposed by the same architects of the – still ongoing – financial collapse;
- The collective demand to be connected with each other by reliable and affordable broadband is piling enormous pressure on telecoms operators, local and national governments.
This is why we have decided to take on this challenge and be the David that defeats the Goliath. But we need your help.
We have the knowledge, the technology, the devices, the licenses and the drive to get everyone in Scotland connected to an affordable and reliable super-fast broadband connection.
What we don’t have is the capital to invest and the ear of the decision makers. And that’s where you chip in.
We don’t want money right away: what we need right now is a groundswell of support from you.
Write to your MP, your MSP, your Councillor and tell them that you support our effort.
Tickle their ego.
Tell them we can do it for far less money the big telecom players want them to believe.
Tell them we can do it so quickly that they will still be in their position when the project is complete.
Tell them that they will be remembered at the next election for being the one that delivered.
Then, when we have them on board, we will offer every one of you the opportunity to invest some of your money into local schemes that will deliver super- or hyper-fast broadband to your communities, areas, hamlets and villages that have been left behind by the liberal fallacy of the free market because they’re not a profitable investment.
Of course such deployments are not an appetising venture: pulling miles and miles of fibre optic cables will cost hundreds of thousands of Pounds and take months, years. Such investments are not profitable in the short or medium term, will never break even and are only justifiable in a larger context. Politicians can only endorse such investments when the secondary benefits to the economy of the area that’s upgraded to high speed broadband – such as greater value of land and buildings, better paid jobs and higher value businesses – become apparent, and often these outcomes are on a longer time frame than the Minister, MP or MSP tenure.
We can remove this obstacles right away. To connect places 10 miles apart with a 250Mbps wireless link will cost 1/50th (yes, one fiftieth) of a fibre optics link and will happen in weeks (yes, weeks). With profitability and time scale problems swept away, the appeal for any politician becomes apparent.
As soon as the government support is there, you will be able to fund your own local deployment of super/hyperfast broadband with a ridiculously small amount of cash, and the ongoing costs of the service will be in line with those in urban areas.
Don’t believe us? Look at this case study we just published. You know how much all that did cost to engineer, install and activate? Three thousand pounds. And how much it costs to run per month? Less than £100.
Don’t ever say us we can’t do it. Because we can. Together.