B4RN brings 400G broadband to rural north of UK with open solutions

The challenge

Reaching the hard to reach

The UK government is digitalizing many processes nationwide, such as online health and safety inspections. The agriculture industry is also in a process of digital transformation. However, all of this requires suitable connectivity, something that not everyone in rural areas has access to. Tom Rigg, Chief Operating Officer describes how B4RN is on a mission to fill the gap, bringing full-fiber connectivity to the rural north of the UK:

“B4RN was started to help local communities thrive and survive. Without up-to-date broadband infrastructure, communities go under and disappear. Today our business ethos is ‘Reaching the hard to reach’. B4RN is still all about community. We can't do what we do without the help of local volunteers, investors and supportive landowners. Communities have so much to gain: faster broadband for families, schools and businesses, and a provider that cares about service!” says Tom.

The Solution

A relationship that withstands the test of time

B4RN works on a seven-year plan for major network upgrades, aiming to ensure future-proof solutions are chosen that will last all the way until the next upgrade. Smartoptics equipment was already selected in the past. It was so future-proof that it remained in use beyond the seven-year goal, about a decade. Also, Smartoptics’s commitment to customer success is seen in its very high customer satisfaction rating, with an NPS of 82. The two companies have enjoyed a close relationship for many years, and this was a decisive factor for going with Smartoptics again in 2023.

“Nothing has worked as well or lasted as long as the Smartoptics gear we have had. But as much as we like the products, our close relationship is no less important and has also withstood the test of time. Smartoptics is easy to communicate with, and they listen and take our needs seriously despite us being a relatively small company. Smartoptics goes the extra mile to provide the cost-efficiency, reach and personal support needed to help us make full fiber broadband viable for even the most remote rural communities,” says Tom.

the Result

Future-proof 400G tailored to regional networks

In line with a new seven-year plan, B4RN is upgrading its core network to 400G in 2023. New dark fiber will extend 650 km to create a ring around the north of the UK between Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds. This will be lit by Smartoptics 400G fiber optics, delivering up to 16TB worth of traffic in the backbone network. Smartoptics open line systems along with 10G and 400G optics were selected to ensure this upgrade will be future-proof for at least seven years until 2030 while ensuring maximum cost efficiency.

“Creating our own 400G regional backbone network covering a vast stretch of rural areas has certain special demands in terms of reach, cost efficiency and flexibility. It’s simply not the same as other types of networks. Smartoptics has solutions that are specially designed for networks like ours. After analyzing what’s out there on the market, we found that Smartoptics products were, once again, the best option we could find, effectively meeting our needs from 10G to 400G. I’m confident that this new Smartoptics gear will enable our backbone network to give the rural north more than enough bandwidth for years to come,” says Tom.

Smartoptics is too easy!

With plug-and-play deployment, automatic power balancing and more automation features, Smartoptics takes ease of use to a new level. This frees up precious time for rural internet service providers like B4RN to serve their communities.

"Despite the significant challenges of being a community-based ISP, committed to reaching the hardest to reach in the rural environment, we are at the forefront of innovation and technology. With a world-class network we are competing toe to toe with the major providers. With Smartoptics, we just plugged in both ends, turned on auto balancing, and everything just worked. It was almost too easy! But in the end, even the smartest fiddlers would probably rather just do it the Smartoptics way, that goes for me at least,” says James Clapham, Senior Network Support Engineer, B4RN.

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