Broadband 4 Our Community (B4OC) is a voluntary not-for profit organisation that has made the world of difference to the community of Piltown and Fiddown, Co. Kilkenny. As the communities were not included for investment under the National Broadband Plan, due to them being classified on an EU standard as having “adequate broadband”, the group took the initiative to build its own fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband network in the towns.
The project has led to a total of 750 homes and businesses in a 3.4 square km2 area having access to at least 150MB and a high-speed broadband service which people own, run and can afford. The group says that funding for the project was provided by the Kilkenny Leader Partnership (KLP) and its funding partner, Tomar Trust who assisted with planning and training.
B4OC chairman, Brian Doyle says explained that laying fibre-optic cable is expensive thus using the future-proofed FTTP model employed by the telecommunications industry was the only option. He adds that “this is a service by the community, for the community which is owned by the community and run in its interest. It is a much leaner development model and operates on a not-for-profit community-owned basis.”
B4OC project manager, Jim O’Brien says that support from local businesses and the community has been incredible. With phase one of the project complete, O’Brien says that only a few phases remain to go.
LSL News.