The Staffordshire Broadband Steering Group was established in March 2004 following a Broadband community consultation event organised by Staffordshire Moorlands Council for Voluntary Services and the Staffordshire Rural Forum, where over 150 community campaigners, key partners and members of the rural community were invited to contribute towards the case for bringing Broadband to some of the most remote and isolated communities in the County.

The Steering Group comprises of representatives from Local Autorities, Community Broadband Activists, Council for Voluntary Services and Business Support Agencies, engaging with existing partnerships and initiatives seeking to improve the viability and sustainability of rural communities.

The Steering Group continues to work with Advantage West Midlands (AWM) and the West Midlands Networking Company (WMNC) to implement the Rural Broadband Access Project (RBAP) which will be supporting Broadband service access solutions over the next 2 years in the County's non-viable exchange areas.

• Working with AWM and the West Midlands Networking Company to achieve the objectives of the Regional Broadband Initiative, and provide access to reliable and affordable Broadband services.
• Idenitify priority geographical areas that are proving difficult to provide access to Boradband services, principally the non-viable exchange areas of Rudyard, Blackshaw, onecote, Alstonfield, Hollington, Hamstall Ridware, Fradley Village and Wetwood.
• Identify key local issues for access to Broadband services and raise awareness of the benefits for Boradband amongst business and domestic communities through local events and workshops.
• Utilise existing partnerships mechanisms including the Staffordshire Rural Forum, Rural Hub, NE Staffs Rural Regeneration (SRB) and the Village Agents initiative, to communicate and facilitate a range of activities aimed at improving access to and take up Broadband services.
• Support and establish local campaigns for communities to access Broadband Services.

RBAP will be supplemented by the Rural Area Broadband Inclusion Trial (RABBIT) which will provide support for rural businesses to get connected to a local Broadband Service.

The Steering Group held a series of Broadband Roadshow events early in 2005 in each of the non-viable exchanges areas to engage the community and promote the benefits of having a fast, reliable and affordable Broadband service. Information and community opinion have been collated and analysed to produce the Rural Staffordshire Online Dossier which will assist with the prioritisation of bringing Broadband services to each of the 24 non-viable exchange areas across the West Midlands Region. Staffordshire is well placed to benefit early from RBAP having a third of the region's target exchange areas (see Staffordshire Broadband map link) which include the remote rural moorland communities of Rudyard, Onecote, Alstonefield, and Blackshaw the agricultural communities of Hamstall Ridware (Lichfield District) and Wetwood (Stafford Borough) in the County's central rural belt and Fradley to the north of Lichfield. The Moorlands non-viable exchange areas Onecote, Hollington, Blackshaw, Alstonefield and Rudyard are typically remote, isolated rural communtiies with high proportions of agricultural and small rural businesses including, farms, holiday accommodation and specialist ICT based and consultancy companies. The Typography of these areas which feature high moorland heaths and deep valleys, together with the sparsley populated and dispersed communities, make it difficult and expensive to make available Broadband services given the high infrastructure cost. Similarly the Wetwood and Hamstall Ridware non-viable exchange areas are also typically rural comprising of dispersed small hamlets and remote isolated farms. The Fradley exchange area is something of an anomaly being surrounded by Broadband enabled exchange area comprising part of the expanding Fradley village and Fradley Business Park where many major regional and national companies have located. Population density and proximity to a large number of potential business users would suggest a more than sufficient demand to enable for Broadband a recent survey of companies on the Business Park undertaken by Lichfield District Council has indicated a clear demand and need for Broadband services.

Once Broadband infrastructure has been installed across the target exchange areas the Steering Group will continue to work with AWM and WMNC to promote the takeup of Broadband services amoungst rural businesses and the wider community. It is planned to hold a series of workshops during 2005 & 2006 to achieve this objective.