Bringing fast internet access to the village

A community led project which will enable the villagers of Lochwinnoch to access broadband internet connections through the innovative use of wireless and satellite technology is on its way to success, thanks to financial support from Scottish Enterprise.

The Lochwinnoch CLAN project (Community Local Area Network) has been made possible by seed funding of £15,000 from Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire as part of their Broadband for Business Programme, and technical expertise volunteered by Webwise Systems, a locally based IT solutions provider.

For villagers wanting to access the internet at home or for business use, Broadband will mean they are able to do this faster. Having broadband will reduce the time to download information from the net and providing an always-on internet and e-mail connection, freeing up the phone-line, while keeping costs at a fixed rate.

Lochwinnoch is a small rural village that currently has no access to any type of broadband connection. There are no cable TV franchises piped in the area and the local BT exchange is not enabled for ADSL. With no trigger level set it is unlikely that the exchange will be converted in the near future. This prompted the members of LMEG, a local community group, to look for their own solution and the CLAN project is the result.

The project is now being implemented and with 80% coverage of the village expected, over 30 businesses / homes should be brought online in the first phase. Users will connect their PCs to the network using a wireless adaptor card and a small desktop aerial.

Commenting on the scheme, Lorraine McMillan, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire said, “This is a terrific example of community action. The people of Lochwinnoch want access to fast connections to the internet and this wireless solution offers a way to do it.”

LMEG director, Barbara Brown, said “This project will help to address the business needs of the village and will complement our other endeavours which focus on youth, health and sustainable community living.”

If you live in the village and want to register for Broadband go to http://www.lochinnoch.info/clan

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