Farmer Builds Her own Broadband Network to Connect Rural Communities

By Vishal Goel, | December 27, 2016

Christine Conder at a TED event talking about her project. (YouTube)

Christine Conder at a TED event talking about her project. (YouTube)

Christine Conder, a farmer in the UK, has solved the problem of internet connectivity in her village by building a local broadband network for the rural communities of Lancashire.

"I'm just a farmer's wife," says Christine Conder.

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The story began when the trees which separated Chris's neighboring farm from the nearest wireless mast grew too tall that it blocked the internet connectivity provided by the Lancaster University. With no alternatives present in the area, Chris came up with the idea of building her network which was eventually called B4RN, an internet service provider offering one gigabit per second broadband speed, 35 times faster than the 28.9 Mbps average UK speed internet connection, according to Ofcom.

To make the plan a reality, Conder purchased a kilometre of fibre-optic cable and commandeered her farm tractor to dig a trench. After lighting the cable, the two farms were connected, with her cable feeding the one behind the trees. "It wasn't rocket science. It was three days of hard work," said Chris.

B4RN reportedly has 2,000 miles of cable and a string of local parishes connected to its network. All households, which pay£30 per month with a £150 connection fee, have to do some of the installation themselves.

The popular company has work lined up for the next ten years with people attending the open days from as far as Sierra Leone a couple of times a year. Although the company has a paid staff of 15, the bulk of the work is done by volunteers.

B4RN is still not a profit-making company. It is yet to pay back its shareholders to be in a good financial health.

Chris was awarded an MBE in 2015 and has been recognized by the Queen.


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