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B4RN

For those living in the more rural parts of this beautiful region, who haven’t heard of B4RN before, I would like to suggest that you look into it a little further, as it could well be of benefit both to you now, and for your property should you decide to sell or let it out in the future.

Along with all the other changes we have seen over the last year, there has been a huge increase in the number of people requiring better and faster internet connections, both for home working and for watching the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Those of you already lucky enough to have a stable, high-speed connection, will perhaps not be aware of the pain felt by some of the more rural communities and houses who suffer with connection speeds so slow (or which drop out multiple times a day), that they make the thought of streaming a program or film, making a video call, online gaming, or quickly searching the web for something, a thing of dreams!

For some looking to get away from it all, it may not be a deal breaker (although that is also likely to change in the future), but many of those looking to buy or rent a property now have the speed and availability of a good internet connection very high on their ‘must haves’ list.

Some are going as far as to discount properties entirely, that have poor or slow connections, from their shortlist of properties to view, meaning they may not get to see the other wonderful things your property has to offer!

B4RN is an organisation with the goal of helping those people and properties.

Very simply put, it is a professionally designed fibre optic broadband network, registered as a non-profit, community benefit society, and run by a dedicated local team with the support of landowners and volunteers.

Their aim is to offer 1,000Mbps FTTP* broadband to every property in their coverage area, at a cost of just £30 per month for each household.

The following are a few of the key points from B4RN’s website:

It’s future-proof…

  • Virtual reality. 8k TV. The future of home entertainment will rely on broadband.
  • Looking to sell? Studies by universities and government suggest good broadband adds value and desirability to your home.
It’s cheap…
  • 1Gbps services tend to cost £50-£60/month.
  • B4RN has cost just £30/month for households and we’ve never put the price up!
It’s about community…
  • B4RN couldn’t happen without the hard work of local volunteers.
  • We’re different from other providers because we’re not-for-profit.
  • B4RN also give free service to schools – Caton Primary School is already connected!
It’s reliable…
  • No more dropouts on video calls.
  • No buffering on the likes of Netflix and Disney+.
  • No waiting to send/receive large emails.
  • No waiting on big downloads like video games.
It’s true fibre…
  • You might think you already have fibre broadband, but it’s only fibre to the cabinet (the little green boxes in the street).
  • B4RN is fibre all the way to the home.
It’s fast…
  • Hyperfast. Ofcom say the average download speed in the area is 40.1Mbps.
  • A B4RN gigabit connection is more than 20 times faster than that!
The list of villages and local communities already on B4RN’s project road map is long and growing every day. Many are already live, some are in progress, and others are still at the planning stage, but all require input from the local community, and we would highly recommend and encourage you to get involved in this fantastic project.
For more information on B4RN, please visit: https://b4rn.org.uk
As usual, if we can be of any help or assistance with anything property related, please do not hesitate to get in touch with one of our local offices.

Enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend and stay safe!

*(Fibre To The Property)