This article is from page 2 of the 2014-03-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
MORE than 110 Bur ren locals, including 60 local businesses, have come together to help force the creation of better broadband services in rural Clare.
The group have formed a co-operative style organisation to bargain directly with broadband providers, and entice them to build a better broadband network in the Bur ren area.
The group will meet with representatives from Airwire today, March 18, who have al ready committed to building one new signal boosting repeater station in the Burren region. Group organiser and owner of the Bur ren yoga Centre, Dave Brocklebank, believes that if he can prove an even greater local demand he will be able to negotiate for better broadband right across the area.
“It’s not rocket science to boost these signals but the companies don’t do it because they don’t see a market for it in the more r ural areas. But if we get together and show them there is a market then we can get repeaters stations built all over the Burren,” said Mr Brocklebank.
“I am a member of the Burren Ecotourism Network and I used that as a platform to get it going. At the moment we have maybe 60 businesses signed up around 50 individuals. I think if we can get a couple of hundred people to sign up we should have proved the demand for them to build repeater stations right across the Bur ren. The more numbers we get the better chance we have of getting the service boosted.”
Airwave will conduct a technical survey in the Burren area tomorrow with a view to constructing a new repeater station. This station will receive a direct, heavy duty, internet connection, which is will then transmit to the local area.
“These stations receive a di rect connection, so the signal strength will not degrade no matter haw many people are using it. Something like this will help maybe 15 or 20 users in that area, so we need to entice the providers to build more of these in the Bur ren,” continued Mr Brocklebank.
“The aims here is to get more and more people to sign up and then we can boost the signal for the entire area. This is just the beginning; if this works for broadband and can see us getting together again to work for other services.”
To sign up to the broadband initiative visit www.bur renyoga.com/ broadband.