Update on Grants

Phil Middleton has recently been in contact with the people in the Welsh Government who are processing our ABC Grant Application Forms for an update. 

Welsh Government are making good progress with processing the applications and we hope to have more positive news soon. We are aware that there will be some queries regarding some of the forms. When we receive these queries we will do our best to answer them and if necessary will be in direct contact with the applicants concerned to resolve these issues. So far we are aware that over 75% of the applications are proceeding without any issue. 

Directors Meeting  03.01.2018

At a Directors Meeting on 03.01.2018, the decision was made based on the updates from the Welsh Government to announce,

"THE PROJECT FOR MICHAELSTON-Y-FEDW HYPERFAST BROADBAND IS GOING AHEAD ."

NOW the work begins in earnest, the financial pledges under the SEIS Scheme  will be requested to be paid to Michaelston-y-Fedw Internet CIC on 1st February 2018.  Please note that no investors money will be used until we have written assurance from Welsh Government that sufficient grants will be paid.

To give the scheme a head start we have been given the opportunity to place an order for materials with Emtelle and an order with HNS for our internet connection up to the value of £20 K. This will enable us to have materials ready for when we start work and our internet connection may be available to us as early as April, although this is subject to Openreach carrying out the necessary work in time. Provided we get the assurances we need from Welsh Government, then work on constructing our network should start early in February

Investment

50 people have registered for £1 shares, of which 38 have paid with 12 outstanding. If you are one of the twelve would you kindly pay via bank transfer into Myf Internet bank account. Details would have been sent to you by email.

Under the SEIS Scheme, we are pleased to announce that over £150 K has been pledged which will incur a slight reduction on a pro rata basis for individuals pledging more than £ 500. You will be contacted directly via email by the Directors with the slight change to your investment amount.

We are extremely grateful to those pledging under SEIS and loans, we may /may not need to take up the loans at a future date.

HNS

We have requested an internet connection from HNS to commence April 1st which will allow us time to get the container converted and necessary groundwork done in preparation.

A credit check has been carried out, understandably as we are a new company with no trading history, a security bond may be required.

Dave Schofield visited B4RN over the Christmas period whilst visiting relatives and carried out a "ping test" to Newport, achieving an upload speed of 942.69 mbps. AMAZING ! ! 

Sub-Groups

Wayleaves

We are still waiting for Newport Council to clarify the details with the Community Village Hall and to formalise  the legal document.  A formality which should soon be in place.

Route

A map for best routing has been completed and printed, this is 85 % accurate with a 15% allowance for minor changes as we progress, which is as expected.

Ground Works & Civils, Technical Design & Installation

Thomas Bros will be trench digging and putting the ducting into the ground with the appropriate equipment. Farmers are very welcome to carry this out over their own land if they prefer to. It is anticipated that this work will commence at the beginning of February.

Volunteers

40 people have very kindly volunteered, questionnaires sent out to collate all the information regarding availability, skills, capabilities, contact details etc. into a spreadsheet. To date 28 have responded and Jim has contacted the other 12 to get the supplementary information.

A very positive response gives us a minimum of 4 electricians, 2 fibre optic specialists, 3 IT experts, people who have trench digging experience and others who are willing and able to turn their hand to do what is needed with training where required

APPEAL for specific tasks.  

We need a dedicated volunteer to liaise directly with the service providers ie. Water, Gas, BT, Electricity  to establish precisely where services are underground throughout all the trench digging process to ensure that no damage is done to existing pipes and cables. 

Wayleaves . Assistance required.

All the wayleaves required have been agreed in principle meaning that we now need to get formal agreements signed. Gareth Davies has agreed to assist Rob Williams in this task and all landowners will be contacted in the coming weeks so that we can meet with them, discuss the routes and obtain signed Wayleave Agreements. A volunteer is required to assist Gareth and Rob with this task.

Please contact Jim Dunk on jimdunk@myfi.wales if you feel that you would like to support the project with either of these specific tasks and to find out more information.

Fibre Splicing and Test and Measurement People Required

A Group of 10 - 12 volunteers is being created to carry out splicing and fusion of the optic fibres followed by testing and measurement. Sounds very technical but with training and support is very manageable. Within the next couple of weeks we will have a technical expert along with the appropriate equipment to carry out a demonstration and to do some hands on training. This will be a session lasting up to 2 hours and will be during an evening in the Village Hall. More information to follow.

If you feel that you could and would like to be involved in this part of the project, please email Carina Dunk carina.dunk@myfi.wales to join me in this task.

Container

The "Village Hall Management Committee" will consider a request for us to use the existing container sited in the car park as the base for our equipment. If permission is granted we hope to start work on the conversion very soon.

The existing container requires emptying, some rubbish has already been removed and disposed of and discussions are on-going regarding putting a door in and making the relevant space available.

Materials

Discussions are on-going with Emtelle for material supply. Some components are currently in stock and some with a 6 week lead time.

Routers

Several routers have been researched and it has been agreed that a router that can be easily connected, has reliability, with sufficient connections to allow those who want to hard wire connections around the home and with ease of installation to the fibre connection will be selected.

Date for next Meeting

The next meeting will be on Thursday 18th January 2018 in the Village Hall at 7.30pm