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Rural fibre project B4RN posts first job advert

Fibre broadband project B4RN has begun recruiting full time staff to assist the running of its rural network. 

The grassroots FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) movement, funded entirely by donations and local subscribers fees, has started advertising for its first employee, promising a salary of up to £30,000. 

B4RN is after an office manager to help keep its affairs in order as the network grows. The ideal applicant will need experience with Office and Sage and proven experience working with accounts and credit control.

Rural fibre project B4RN posts first job advert
Grass shoots: B4RN’s all-fibre network expands slowly but surely

B4RN said in the job posting: “You will need to be able to work with and encourage volunteers, and manage general office duties, such as maintaining the smooth running of the office, managing customers, providers and office facilities.

“Experience and competence using MS Office and Sage is also preferable. Most importantly, you need to be willing and able to accept and build upon the sort of challenges that come with creating a new and fast moving organisation.”

B4RN offers ultrafast broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps (1,000Mbps). It currently has 600 customers but wants to expand to cover thousands over the next two years. 

In order to do this, B4RN is looking into purchasing Code Powers from telecoms regulator Ofcom. This will let it connect new customers without needing to apply to the local authority for specific licences to dig up roads. 

B4RN is available in parts of rural Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire, with plans to spread the network as far as it can. A spin-off project B4YS – Broadband for Yealand, Silverdale and Storth – has already sprung up and is currently raising funds to complete the next section of its network.

B4RN’s service costs £30/month for its symmetrical gigabit broadband service, which is much lower than rivals TalkTalk, BT and Sky charge for their FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) service that offers speeds of up to 76Mbps.

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