BARRY FORDE: Barry has been awarded an MBE for his pioneering work in setting up and leading (as CEO) the community benefit society Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN). He has an impressive track record in both academia and social enterprise. Barry holds a Professorial Fellowship in Computer Networking in the Department of Computing at Lancaster University, where he previously served as head of networking, head of technical services, and Deputy Director of Information Systems Services before retiring.
More widely, Barry was responsible for the CLEO network, which connects over 1,000 schools and public sector sites across Lancashire and Cumbria. He has also been a member of the JISC committee overseeing the JANET network for universities, and a member of the NWDA Broadband Advisory Group.
Since 2011, through his work at B4RN, Barry has been committed to sharing and extending the ideas and methods developed there with other community groups across the UK. Many “baby-B4RNs” have now been created, applying Barry’s approach in their own local areas. Barry regularly speaks at national-level events focused on bringing rural broadband to the final 5% of the population – an area covering almost 60% of the country – who are currently excluded from commercial broadband roll-outs and are not reached by existing government broadband programmes.
B4RN’s influence on the surrounding region has been transformative. This remarkable achievement stands as a testament to Barry’s patience, technical expertise, passion, and unwavering commitment to community empowerment. Residents and agricultural workers throughout this thinly populated countryside now experience internet speeds ranging from fifty to five hundred times faster than typical rural broadband offerings from major UK telecommunications companies. Many households have transitioned from virtually non-existent connectivity, demonstrating a viable blueprint that other alternative network providers can follow to deliver high-speed broadband access.
Under Barry’s leadership, B4RN has accomplished these milestones without any government financial assistance or local council backing. The traditional risk-averse approach of governmental bodies has frequently created obstacles along the way—each one methodically addressed and resolved. Barry’s enduring contribution will be an ultra-high-speed fiber-to-the-premises network, constructed by local residents for their own community, while simultaneously providing the entire United Kingdom with a proven model for achieving superior outcomes.
Christine is a farmer’s spouse, grandmother, and fervent advocate for improved telecommunications infrastructure to support underserved rural areas in her home community of Wray, the Lune Valley, and the Trough of Bowland. Her community involvement spans more than three decades, beginning with her role as school governor and Chair at Wray Endowed School throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Her campaign for enhanced rural internet access dates back to 2002, and she subsequently co-founded Wray Com Com, which delivered internet connectivity to Wray’s residents and educational institutions for the first time.
In 2009, she played a pivotal role in establishing Wennet Community Interest Company, a wifi initiative that installed the area’s first residential fiber-optic network in May 2009. As a founding member of B4RN in August 2011, Christine has become the organization’s most visible representative—working in all weather conditions to excavate trenches, install conduit, deploy fiber throughout the backbone network and to individual properties, while also coordinating volunteer teams across numerous villages and parishes.
She actively leverages social media platforms—Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube—to such an extent that virtually every stakeholder in the UK’s rural broadband sector recognizes her dedication, candid communication style, and readiness to question the established telecommunications monopoly. Her influence extends to the European arena, where she served as an observer providing feedback to Neelie Kroes regarding the Digital Agenda for Europe.
Among her diverse responsibilities, Christine has also contributed to other community initiatives, notably helping to revive the contemporary Wray Scarecrow Festival, which relaunched in 1994 with Christine as a founding committee member. She embodies the quintessential ‘Can Do’ attitude: no challenge is insurmountable, and countless individuals benefit from her dynamism and dedication.
B4RN Progress Report:
Three years have elapsed since the ceremonial first groundbreaking by Mayor Woodie and MP Eric Ollerenshaw, captured on film by John Popham.
From its launch three years ago in Quernmore, B4RN has delivered ultra-high-speed fiber-optic broadband to remote villages and isolated settlements previously limited to dial-up connections or plagued by extremely poor signal quality. B4RN’s coverage now encompasses 27 parishes with exceptionally strong adoption rates in each area. The network includes approximately 500 miles of installed fiber infrastructure, demonstrably generating employment opportunities, strengthening community bonds, stimulating entrepreneurship, and enhancing educational access.
All project work utilizes local resources, with excavation, duct installation, fiber deployment, and property connections either performed or funded by volunteers for community benefit.
B4RN delivers 1000Mbps symmetrical fiber-optic broadband directly to individual properties for £25 monthly (plus VAT), with all profits reinvested into the community. The B4RN membership ultimately determines how service revenue will be allocated. The organization currently employs six paid staff members, while volunteers continue handling excavation, duct installation, fiber deployment, and property connections. B4RN provides comprehensive training, and several younger participants have pursued professional careers through these opportunities—two have become full-time employees.
Various community projects are being tested that capitalize on the exceptional bandwidth capacity, including streaming church services and cricket matches for those unable to attend in person, and piloting telehealth services particularly beneficial for elderly or mobility-challenged residents and families with young children who can receive consultations at home. CCTV systems for home security and monitoring livestock during lambing and calving seasons are also being deployed across multiple locations.
Genuine fiber-optic broadband buried directly underground to each residence remains essentially invisible and perfectly suited to areas of outstanding natural beauty. The infrastructure proves extremely durable and unaffected by adverse weather conditions. It delivers energy-efficient, cost-effective, premium broadband that remains future-ready and demands minimal ongoing maintenance.
Additional information available at www.b4rn.org.uk
View their latest video: https://youtu.be/Uf6Jw2gxSJw
HRH Prince Charles graciously visited B4RN on April 1st, 2015. He participated in demonstrations of fiber deployment in fields and to properties, connecting network distribution points (junction chambers housing multiple connection interfaces), and fiber splicing—including completing a splice now integrated into our 1,000th connection.
B4RN has now surpassed 1,000 connected isolated rural properties and anticipates significantly expanding this number by year-end!
Milestone Moments:
Our inaugural shareholder, Walter Wilcox from Surrey, presented his investment check to Barry Forde. The 1,000,000th share was ceremonially presented back to Walter Wilcox, a pensioner who regularly travels from Surrey to assist with excavation work and support the project’s advancement.
