During 2002, Digital Dales became far more active in the broadband arena, lobbying Government, regulators, industry, and holding events across the region. It was in the spring that the first notion of taking matters into our own hands and installing our own network really began to grow, and EdenFaster was the first project to have come from those initial seeds.

It took over 6 months to research the required technologies, begin to put together a team to deliver a project, look into possible funding options, and dig out the necessary experts from around the world who could advise.

From June-November, the small team of initially 2, then 4, people sat around many mugs of coffee drawing up the plan, and finalising a grant application for NWDA. It was the lack of funding within Yorkshire and Humberside for a scheme that didn't require BT's involvement or ADSL which led to the project being based in Eden - despite the fact that all of those involved, except one, lived on the wrong side of the county boundary. This move to Cumbria (a mere 20 miles) and Digital Dales' involvement has confused many people, including journalists, whose geography doesn't always seem to be very good north of Watford! The project is now run by a "more Cumbrian-facing" (??!) not for profit company - DigitalFells Ltd - at the request of NWDA.

The initial plan was just to set up a Mesh network in Kirkby Stephen, using backhaul from either CLEO or another carrier, and let it grow organically. However, the plan grew after a similar application using wireless and satellite was refused grant funding for Appleby. By the time the application was submitted in September 2002, the aim was to build a core network in Appleby using established technologies from business parks and oil rigs, and extend this outwards towards Kirkby Stephen via the villages using Mesh technology.

With some minor alterations to the original application, the sum of £150,000 grant funding was finally approved on Nov 5th 2002. This was the day of a Digital Dales event in Hawes, attended by Mike Buhagiar of BT, Tim Watton of RABBIt, and other broadband 'dignatries', and the news came as a boost to all those who attended. The project had been featured the previous month in the Guardian Online (read the article), and the follow-up story meant that Lindsey was inundated with mails from other communities around the UK asking for help - around 8000 in the first deluge!

Much of the tale of this project is told on the archived Edenfaster website. Funding ended for the project in March 2004, but the team continue to work to establish a sustainable network over 1 town and 1 village, and many can now enjoy a 2Mbps connection over wireless, and a wi-fi network so access by the river, in fields, in town etc is available. There are broadband-enabled public access computers in the Broadband Information Centre, which can be found in Appleby Town Centre near the TIC - do drop in!

EdenFaster learnt many lessons. Not least of which is that in a rural area the "pond" in which you can fish for your 'skilled folk' is limited but the enthusiasm of the community cannot be dampened. The Edenfaster project is now run by a group of community-minded individuals who are endeavouring to take this project forwards for the benefit of the wider community. The other lesson is that no matter what any company says to you about their product, you are far better off sticking to what you know works even if it is so cutting edge most people are still busy dissing it - in our case, LocustWorld Mesh technology, which we should have employed from the beginning!

The EdenFaster Blog for phase 1  includes commentary on broadband developments, reports from events, and more!

EdenTrivia:

Weather in Eden