• How much does it cost ?
It costs £30 per month which is comparable with other providers. Other providers also charge 16.99 for the landline which is how the BT Openreach fibre broadband gets to the property. B4RN Fibre comes direct to the house so if you opt to make phone calls over the B4RN fibre you can drop the landline and not have to pay the £16.99. B4RN fibre has no line rental charge.

There is also a one off connection fee of £150 that pays for the 1Gb wireless router and for labour.

Because B4RN is a Community Benefit company the profits come back to the community and B4RN members will decide if this is spent on lowering the price or given away to local community groups.
This means the price of the B4RN world class fibre broadband will remain stable and may even go down in the future !
  • How do the shares / loans work ?
You won’t need to buy shares to receive a B4RN connection, but network will be built sooner if more people invest.

The material costs of building the B4RN network for our parishes will be met by selling shares in the broadband company, to members of the local community. This funds the ducting, fibre, cabinets etc. Share purchases are the way we will make our community network happen.

As a community benefit society, B4RN must operate for the benefit the rural community rather than its shareholders, so surplus funds are reinvested. B4RN shares are structured in such a way that there is no potential for capital gains, instead B4RN aims to pay a dividend return of 5% per annum from year 4 onward of share ownership.
  • Can I use my phone over the fibre ?

Yes. Various VOIP companies ( voice over internet protocol ) companies such as Vonage have very competitive packages and route the calls onto the normal phone network exchanges just like normal. You can even keep your old number. This means you can dispense with the landline rental of £16.99 which will usually pay for the VOIP package and leave change !
  • What if the cable gets accidentally cut ?
If the cable gets cut accidentally by digging B4RN have their own engineers that can get out and fix it very quickly - splicing a cut together again is very simple. They can usually get you up and running as fast as any other telecoms company. B4RN engineers are local and know the network intimately. The B4RN main trunk routes also have two separate connection so that if one is cut the connections cary on on the other separate route.
  • What if there is a power cut? 
The B4RN network has to have backup power available for safety reasons. The cabinets have back up batteries and in the case of prolonged outages mobile generators can be hooked in.
  • How does the fibre get to my house ?
The fibre will come through the edge of farmers fields and through the back garden. Most of Low and High Bentham properties back onto a field. Most "islands " (surrounded by roads) will only need a single crossing point and then the cable can be dug down the "seam" of where the back gardens meet.  Because the fibre adds to property value most neighbour will allow the cable through even if they choose not to have B4RN broadband at present.  Most farmers for the same reason seem willing to allow the cable through their fields as no private profit is made from the fibre, it goes to the community.


  • What about my existing TV Channels ?
Smart Tvs that connect to your internet will work even better over B4RN fibre broadband. Roku, Apple TV and Chomecast all work just the same . TV as part of a package like BT Sport are tied to BT. Most other packages are available to buy online without a "bundled" provider.