The more I hear of these millions of pounds available for Rural Broadband the more I wonder where they go. I continually hear of poor support from SEEDA and even when funds are released they go to 'wireless trials', 'studies' and 'consultancy'.

SEEDA used to dish out £700 grants to get small businesses online. We're building a urban wireless project. And we're building it NOW. No consultations, no studies. We're just making it happen. We can cover 37000 homes and offices for less than £40,000.

£40,000. That 58 * £700. So, SEEDA want to get 58 locations online. We'll spend the same and give 600 times that number the opportunity to interact with their community and the world or do business.

I'm not against rural projects. We are looking at the outlying areas around us now. We think that making it work in a urban setting, where demand is obviously there, will help us provide a cheaper and more realiable service to the rural areas.

What's happened to the concept of 'value for money'?

Regards
Russell Hutson
www.feeed.com

Seventy thousand pounds, more or less, was available to Oxfordshire - for providing rural broadband. They were too busy to accept it.

Yes, really...